Fabian Echevarria

“Someone who put this philosophy into action brilliantly was a fourth-grade teacher from Brooklyn, New York, Mrs. Ruth Hopkins. On the first day of school, she looked at her class roster with the excitement and pleasure of starting a new term. But as she went down the list of students, her heart sank. In her class this year she would have “Terrible Tommy,” the school’s most notorious “bad boy.” His last teacher had constantly complained about him to colleagues, the principal, and anyone else who would listen—to no avail. Tommy was not just mischievous; he caused serious discipline problems in the class. He picked fights with other students, was fresh to the teacher, and seemed to grow worse as he got older. His only redeeming feature was his ability to learn and master the schoolwork easily. Mrs. Hopkins decided to face the “Tommy problem” immediately. When she greeted her new students, she made little comments to each of them: “Rose, that’s a pretty dress you’re wearing,” “Alicia, I hear you draw beautifully.” When she came to Tommy, she looked him straight in the eyes and said, “Tommy, I understand you are a natural leader. I’m going to depend on you to help me make this class the best one in the whole fourth grade this year.” She reinforced this over the first few days by complimenting everything he did, and commenting on how this or that showed what a smart, talented boy he was. With that reputation to live up to, even a nine-year-old couldn’t let her down—and he didn’t.”
― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People: Updated For the Next Generation of Leaders