The Power of Nice is about getting to the top of your career without sacrificing integrity and kindness.

businesspeople, MBA students, college students, CEOs

The real-world examples after every rule.

It's great to see that "nice" is making a comeback. This latest engrossing read is "The Power of Nice" by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval, and though I approach all business and leadership books with a heaping cup of skepticism, these two authors have converted me to their side.

Yes, I know. Every new author has their "trick" to managing well and succeeding in business: The Eggplant CEO, Five Thousand and One Team-Building Games, The Indiana Jones Manager: Whipping Your Team into Shape. But Nice doesn't feel like a trick. Nice is something we lost along the way when we mistakenly started believing that hurting others was a sign of success.

All too often, there's an unspoken excuse for an ornery CEO -- there's a belief that his or her high rank affords them the allowance to be curt, aloof and unconcerned with everyone on the company's lower rungs. That meanness trickles down into every crevice of an organization; causing employees to grit their teeth and steel themselves against co-workers encroaching on their territory.

But IDG founder and chairman Pat McGovern proves the value of nice. He travels the world each year personally handing a holiday bonus to each employee. I participated in this ritual three times at CXO Media and it had an astounding effect on morale. People not only spruced up their desks in anticipation of "Pat Day," but they reviewed their previous year's accomplishments and their department's stats and goals, because Pat just might bring it up in conversation. You don't get just a handshake and hello; you get a compliment, a comment, or a question tailored to you.

When Pat leaves, the office is on a high for the rest of the day, and not just because of the extra cash. You hear whispers of, "What did he say to you?!" for hours afterward in cubes and hallways. No one is under the illusion that he'll be back next week to invite them to lunch, but everyone appreciates Pat's honest attempt to forge a connection and value our contribution toward his vision.

And just as niceness spreads like warmth, rudeness can also have an insidious effect -- like a germ. What you do can come back to bite you. Try nice.

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Created Sep 07, 2007 at 3:06pm • Submit your own review...