My Visit With Harvey MacKay… What I Learned, How I’m Going To Use It, And How You Can Benefit From My Experience

Last week I posted a video about how I ran into Larry Benet, “The Connector”, at Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Manager’s training seminar in Los Angeles, and how Larry re-connected Harvey MacKay, author of numerous books including, Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty, and others.

A few years ago, Harvey and I spoke on the same platform for a major corporate client, and we lost touch and hadn’t seen each other since then. Larry happened to be on the phone with Harvey and handed me the phone to talk with him. In that conversation, Harvey invited me to his home to do an interview and talk about the launch of his new book, Use Your Head To Get Your Foot In The Door… Job Search Secrets No One Will Tell You.

A couple of days ago, I visited Harvey at his mountain-top home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, and got to see the unbelievable view he has every day as he looks out over Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. He showed me where he does his writing, and it’s no wonder he cranks out so many great books. The view is magnificant and it can’t help but inspire you.

Well, Harvey took me on a tour of his incredible home and told me what he had been up to since we last spoke. That was nice. I learned a lot about him, his wife, his hobbies (he’s a marathoner), and his interests. As interesting as those things were, that’s not what made the biggest impression on me.

What really piqued my interest, and what I came away with… and what I’d like to pass on to you… is the “between the lines” stuff. The things that weren’t said or spoken.

Harvey had me sit on a couch in his living room, asked me questions about my business and my personal life, and focused his entire attention on me and what I had to say. It was like talking to my best friend. No distractions. No interruptions. Just Harvey and me, and him letting me go on and on about myself.

A couple of minutes into the conversation, my mind flashed back to Dale Carnegie’s “How To Win Friends And Influence People” book that I read when I was a senior in high school. Dale said that if you want to make people like you, to be a good listener and encourage others to talk about themselves. And that’s exactly what I caught Harvey doing to me… and that’s when I stopped talking about me and started asking him questions about him, his work, and his passion. And boy, did he open up… and that’s when my learning began!

Well, we were both busy and had lots on our plates for the day, so we moved outdoors on the patio overlooking a steep drop down the side of the mountain. His pool has two “vanishing edges” that make it look like the water just hangs in mid air. (Really cool!) We took a couple of pictures and shot a quick video where Harvey talked about his new book, gave some tips from it, and discussed his upcoming book tour and travel schedule.

Harvey is a wonderful man, and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to reconnect with him, and will be helping him promote his book as it gets closer to launch time.

So what does all this have to do with you… what ‘s the take-away value you get from my visit with Harvey?

For me, the conversation and reconnection was great. But what I really learned… what I saw in action… what I hope you’ll learn and apply… is what Harvey did to me by making me feel comfortable and relaxed, asking me questions about my business, my family and my personal interests, and then focusing intently on what my responses.

The next time you’re in a conversation with someone, think about how you can do what Harvey did… give your undivided attention to the person you’re conversing with.

The second thing I learned… and I might never have recognized it had my mind not flashed back nearly 50 years ago to when I was in high school and read Carnegie’s book… was that I was doing all the talking. And when you’re talking, you’re not learning. So I shut up, stopped talking about me, and started using what Dale Carnegie taught me those many years ago, and what Harvey was doing to me in the moment.

So what about you? Same thing. It’s not about you. If you want to make an impression, an impact, a friend… then get them talking about themselves and what their life is about. They’ll leave the conversation thinking you were an incredible conversationalist… and you might have only said a handful of words!

If you don’t have Harvey’s books, go get them! I own every one of them and the information in them is priceless. But do as Harvey says in the video we shot… don’t read these books. Study them… devour them… and more importantly, LIVE them. If you do, you’ll have more success than you ever dreamed possible.

Oh, and there’s one more thing. The title of Harvey’s latest book is, Use Your Head To Get Your Foot In The Door… Job Search Secrets No One Will Tell You. But don’t just think it’s for finding or getting a job on someone else’s payroll. Not at all. The principles that Harvey espouses in his book work for getting in the door of a prospective client if you’re a salesperson, a coach, or a consultant. I’ll be using excerpts of this book in our upcoming TopLine Business Solutions training classes… it’s that good!

Martin Howey
Founder and CEO
TopLine Business Solutions