[derstander]

I was in the same boat! But your description summarizes things both more succinctly and eloquently than I could have managed.

If you’re holding off on reading Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” because of the title (like we were), please give it a shot.

I almost wonder if the title is made to appeal to people more ruthlessly ambitious than I and maybe nudge them to be a little more understanding of others and make them more socially successful to boot.

I found Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” to be somewhat similar in that the title seems to be targeting highly ambitious people while the subject matter is useful to a broader audience. But I think that book only has a couple sections of interest to the OP. There are also some faint religious undertones to the 7 Habits that may escape the notice of or not bother most that I am unfortunately predisposed against.