just how these adaptations can best be made. As has been pointed out before, handling people is the most important part of a leader's job.

Some men fail as leaders because they find it very difficult to sit back and let the discussion go on until the group sees the point of the cases. These men think quickly, and so they see what the group is trying to say long before the majority of the group has caught the drift of the discussion. The impatient, quick thinker is likely to interrupt the discussion by saying, "Well, now, what you people are really talking about is so and so, isn't it?" This often practically ends the discussion, for it throws on those who have not caught the point the burden of either admitting they did not get it or else of asking questions. If the men have not caught the point, then they have lost that much of the value of the meeting, for that point is not part of their thinking. The leader tried to inform the majority of his group. He did not permit them to enlarge their own experience through the reinterpretation possible by thinking about the discussion until they saw the point.

Another type of leader who does not make as much headway as he could is the somewhat excitable individual of the quick-thinking kind who is prone, through sheer interest in the subject and confidence in his own opinions, to get into arguments, wherein he tries to prove to some member of the group that his opinion is right while the opinion of the member is wrong.

Those leaders who can not resist trying to teach people are not good group leaders. This is another reason why school-teachers do not always make good leaders. They are too accustomed to telling others what should be done or said. They have a program and want others to accept it. Those who have this attitude usually are not willing to let others learn through their own experiences and through general discussion.

Self-analysis Will Help Some Conference Leaders.

An inexperienced group leader will find it worth while to make a sort of self-analysis and to determine what are his characteristics as a leader. This analysis should help him realize the particular dangers he is likely to encounter and to help him make any adjustments necessary.

SECTION VIII

DANGER POINTS

The Offensive or Aggressive Argument.

Certain situations in conference leadership have a bad influence upon the group, hence mention is made of some of these under the heading of danger points. The most frequent danger point for an

inexperienced leader is to get into an offensive argument. This does not mean that the argument is offensive personally; but that the leader is acting on the aggressive instead of being neutral. This situation is often the result of the leader having a certain opinion which he presents when giving a summary of some part of the discussion. This opinion may be his idea of what the discussion meant or should have meant, or it may be a desirable practice or standard which he follows in his own business. When some member of the group challenges the accuracy of the statement or the validity of the opinion, the leader is likely to defend his statement and to find himself in an argument with some one in the group. The best way to avoid this is to make all statements in a tentative way, leaving the group to accept them or inviting them to make changes. The conscientious leader who has convictions is likely to feel that the group should be converted, and often takes a more positive tone than tactful neutrality requires.

Trying to Keep the Discussion Going.

Another danger is to allow the discussion to run on after the men have lost interest. This usually happens when the leader does not think that the point which should have been made has been brought out, so he lets the discussion drag on in the hope that some one will see the vital point as he sees it. Experience has shown the value of letting the group drop a subject when it shows a disposition to do so. If the leader does not feel that the discussion has developed anything worth while, he can note that point and some time again bring up the subject or point from a little different angle. This may serve to awaken some one to a more important interpretation of the situation than the one which the group saw at the previous discussion. An attempt to force a discussion after a crowd has evidently gone as far as it wants is a dangerous procedure, for it tends to kill interest. Switched off the Main Track.

The third most frequent danger point is found when the "switch is thrown" on a discussion. This means that the discussion has drifted off the point. Thus, a group discussing the question as to whether or not the customer is always right may unconsciously switch to a discussion of how to handle complaints and from that become engaged in an intensely interesting discussion of what is the best procedure for investigating claims. At some time or other the discussion left the main track and went off on a siding before the leader was aware of the situation. To ask a group to drop a subject in which they were deeply interested and to go back to some other topic which they had left because probably not very much interested in it is a dangerous proceeding so far as maintaining interest in the discussion is concerned.

Getting off the track comes about in two ways. One comes from the leader not clearly understanding what the objective of the discussion is; the other comes from the leader "being asleep at the switch," and not seeing just when the discussion left the main line.

When the leader notices a tendency to drift away from the point, he should use his good judgment in a tactful way to call attention to the unsettled point under discussion. This he can do by giving a summary of the discussion up to the time the switch was thrown and by trying to run the crowd back onto the main line. However, at times the crowd is so much interested in the new topic that he will find it wise to let them stay on that subject and at some other time take up the abandoned point.

Another way is to tell a funny story. If he can get the group to forget the interesting new topic, question, or case, he may get them to resume on the main line. If he can not tell a story so it is amusing enough to be diverting, it is not advisable to use that method.

The use of an about-face procedure such as saying "Well, gentlemen, that is all right, but it doesn't have a thing to do with what we have been talking about," reveals a lack of leadership that may affect the group morale. If a leader is on intimate terms with his group, as he undoubtedly will be after a few meetings, he may be able to say that, or the equivalent, with a smile, and get away with it.

Failure to Set a Good Example.

A conference leader should be aware that a group usually will be much influenced by the practices of the leader, particularly in his observance of the ordinary conventions of considerate conversation. A leader who never interrupts a speaker or permits a speaker to be interrupted will throw a dampness on the eagerness of those who interrupt. A leader who insists that when a man is interrupted that the man go on and finish his remarks, will encourage those who are disconcerted by interruptions. A leader by his deliberateness often encourages deliberation in thinking. A leader who speaks softly and without emotion will influence all to lower their voices and to talk calmly. On the whole, the manners or social conduct of the group will be unconsciously influenced by the conduct of the leader; so the leader should watch so that his own conduct does not constitute a danger point.

SECTION IX

CONCLUSION

A conference leader will probably realize that success in this kind of work depends upon the use of good, common sense. No manual or suggestion of any kind can make amends for a lack of that quality. Handling people has not yet become an art which can be described in print, so it is utterly impossible to give a group leader specific

and definite directions as to exactly what to do or not to do in any given situation. The leader who understands how to handle people will realize how important it is for him to understand the attitude of his group, how important that he adjust himself to his group, and how important that he handle the members of his group without anyone being aware of how they were being managed, so that they come to interpret their experiences in the way the leader believes they should be interpreted.

There is one other thing to mention. The members of a conference usually come voluntarily. If they do not come because they want to, the leader will find they are a hindrance. He should get rid of those who do not feel the value of the work being done. The leader must depend upon the interest of those in the group to make the meetings a success. The members will be interested in the degree to which they feel they are getting something worth while out of the meetings. The leader can judge how successful the conference is by the interest shown in attending the meetings, by the extent to which all participate in the discussion, by the character of the discussions, and, as the work goes on, by the willingness of the men to do some thinking and, maybe, some work between meetings.

The high spots of the entire manual can be summarized in this way:

1. A conference will be successful in proportion as the men do their own thinking;

2. The leader will be doing a good job in proportion as he helps the men to think and does not try to think for them;

3. The leader must know enough about handling people to recognize group and individual characteristics and know how to adapt his conduct to the needs of any conference situations;

4. The leader must know how to control and direct the thinking of men without their becoming aware of his guidance and direction; and

5. The leader must know what constitutes sound thinking about business problems, especially those in the business followed by the group.'

2 For a detailed discussion of conference leadership see Foremanship and Supervision," by Frank Cushman. John Wiley & Sons. 1927.

PART III

AN ILLUSTRATION OF CONFERENCE MATERIAL FOR USE IN AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR LAUNDRY SALESMEN

INTRODUCTION

These topics were prepared at the request of the Laundryowners National Association to serve as a sample of the kind of working material which should be used in an organized educational program in the laundry industry.

Those who are not familiar with the use in a conference program of working materials such as these topics, should read Section VI of Part II of this bulletin, pages 35 to 39, before reading these conference topics.

These topics are not intended to be used as a textbook. The material contained in any one topic should not be read over by the members of the group before the meeting at which the topic is discussed. They may be distributed to the members after the conference to serve as a kind of summary.

The material contained in the topics is not an authoritative statement of principles or practices for the laundry industry as a whole. They represent the considered opinion only of those who contributed them. They are intended primarily for the use of a conference leader who has had little or no experience in handling a conference of laundry managers discussing salesmanship. The questions given in each topic are merely suggestive of some which may be used to start a discussion. Those given may or may not be useful for that purpose.

It is expected that these conference topics will be used in two different kinds of conference groups: First, all of these topics will probably be used in conferences of laundry managers; second, appropriate topics only will be used in conferences of a laundry manager with his own route men and salesmen.

The basic information about the laundry business contained in these topics was contributed by a committee from the Laundryowners National Association, all of whom have read and approved the text as submitted. This committee included among others W. E. Fitch, vice president and general manager of the Laundryowners National Association; P. A. Anderson, of the Winchester Laundries (Inc.), Winchester, Mass.; W. E. Hoerr, Model Laundry Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; and George Mattmiller, jr., of the Mattmiller Laundry Co., Chicago, Ill.