October 18, 2006
Nice Guys Finish First
Have you noticed people you work with getting nicer lately?
According to a report by the Christian Science Monitor, there is a cultural shift taking place in American business with a greater emphasis placed on personal civility
and corporate responsibility.
“There’s a huge shift we’ve observed,” said Russ Edelman, one of the founders of the consulting firm Nice Guy Strategies. “Companies are fundamentally saying, ‘We need to employ
more ethical practices as well as create an environment that supports a nicer mind-set.’ Organizations are asking, ‘How can we create an environment that is friendly, welcoming,
and warm, but also ensure that people in the company are held accountable and can achieve success?’ There’s a balance people are struggling with.”
Robin Koval, coauthor of The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness (Doubleday), said being nice involves “having the courage and creativity to
stand up for what you want, but doing it in a way that is not ugly or threatening.”
Ed Horrell, author of The Kindness Revolution: The Company-wide Culture Shift That Inspires Phenomenal Customer Service, said it’s not surprising companies such as Nordstrom,
L.L. Bean, and Chick-fil-A are superior in providing customer service. Kindness is a part of the corporate ethos at those companies. “The way they treat their employees is virtually
always the way they’ll treat their customers,” he said.
Discussion Questions: Have you noticed a change in the workplace environment? Do nice guys finish first as suggested in the Christian Science Monitor
article?
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This is wishful thinking. “Nice” is culturally different in different parts of the country, but I travel all of the time and see no difference.
The author points out an obvious truth. It is great that this is becoming more common after such abuses by companies like Enron, Adelphia, back dating stock options and a torrent of other questionable ethical practices. Our great leaders placed a high value on giving, doing the right thing, and treating their customers like family. This requires an honest, open approach to everything they do, as well as placing your own needs second to those of your customers. When businesses realize this, everyone wins. Customers are happier, they increase their business and the employer has happier employees. Their business grows and the community around their business benefits as well. When we all take this approach to becoming an open business we will realize the importance this brings.
Make a list of all the successful jerks you have worked for and all the successful nice people. I think the list would be about the same length. Different strokes for different folks. Imagine if General George Patton was a nice guy? Or if Jesus was a jerk? Imagine if there were no bullies or jerks at work? It would get boring.
Competition for many of today’s businesses comes from all over the world making productivity, creativity and effectiveness more important then ever before.
An energized and engaged workforce made up of people who take responsibility and accountability for their performance and who are valued and celebrated by their company is essential in the ever more dynamic global marketplace.
The high cost of turnover isn’t a new concept but many of its causes are being more carefully analyzed and addressed by today’s companies who understand the impact to their future.
It isn’t so much about being “nice” as it is about ensuring that each associate is challenged and valued in the most positive way. How people judge what is “nice” is more about how they feel they are being treated, listened to and valued and this in turn drives their desire to see their company succeed, taking ownership in the bigger picture.
This approach does wonders for a company’s productivity and profitability and is a secret found and tapped by many of the industry’s most successful leaders over time, Sam Walton being one of the most successful.
Are companies responding? Just take a look at some of the new firms which have been established recently that teach such philosophies to all levels of management, such as The Soderquist Center founded by former Senior Vice Chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Don Soderquist. His organization is founded on the principal of transforming leadership in just such ways as this.
What a perfect follow-up to yesterday’s “Birds of a feather” discussion. I don’t think “nice guys” are doing any better or worse today than they were 10, 20, 40 years ago. Corporate (and customer) values vary dramatically from one retail setting to another, so it’s very hard (and misleading) to draw general conclusions from a few carefully chosen examples. For every Chick-fil-A, there’s an equal and opposite Moe’s Tavern….
Yes, Nordstorm, L.L.Bean, Chick-fil-A and others are being civil and they are doing really nice things. They should be applauded and followed by others as examples. I hope that trend has actually begun.
But … after regularly reading about the wholesale firings of good workers with years of loyal service as well as the constantly recurring bad-faith stock option scandals, and the extravagant rewards greedily occurring in corporate America; after reading about someone shooting their supervisor at work; after watching excerpts of the brawl at last weekend’s U. of Miami football game; after watching Congress at work as well as looking at the hundreds of nasty political ads of personal attacks currently on TV … I guess I am a little behind the curve in knowing about nice guys winning.
I might suggest that those who believe that this is anything widespread – occurring anywhere but in a few exemplary companies – are likely watching a different movie.
When I read, “We hear companies saying,” my radar is already up – no data. When the companies are quoted saying, “We need to employ more ethical practices, as well as…”, I wonder if any company (not under indictment) would really want to say, “Hey, we were not ethical enough before, but we are heading that way.”
Yes, you can be ethical and succeed. If companies are being more ethical, perhaps there is less tolerance for getting caught up in a company’s unethical practices.
Children were working in U.S. factories less than 100 years ago. Now we are beginning to be held accountable for conditions globally.
Email that never goes away and other technology has made it easier than ever for wrongdoers to get caught. If it is easier to get caught, like the current rash of stock option violations, then being unethical becomes bad for the bottom line and bad personally.
Whether it is more inspection or introspection that makes the workplace more responsible and employee-friendly, I’m all for the change.
A lot of changes are taking place that are driven in part by the recognition of the true shortage of talented people that we need to run our businesses.
The changes are also driven by the fact that totally unencumbered free market economics have been the dominant theme for the last 30 years or so, and now more people are beginning to see and perhaps believe that true success must involve things and measurement beyond the bottom line. I think the broad emphasis on sustainability is a great example of this.
I don’t see any difference in management practices over the last ten years other than some Christians have come out of the closet and started openly practicing their faith (at work and everywhere else). I now see people praying in fast food restaurants – you would never have seen this 10 years ago! Good managers have always been good motivators and therefore good builders. Management by intimidation only results in short term results. Employees who feel they are being abused fight back in subtle ways that eventually correct the problem – more often than not by forcing the business to close its doors.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there has been in increase in “professionalism” due to the increased education of the work force (to some extent). Taking that a step further, I can see how professionalism could be considered “nice.”
In addition, more and more companies are focusing on “customer service throughout the organization” or something similar. I can also see how this would be perceived as “nice.”
Furthermore, there are dueling market factors at work. When a market moves down towards the commodity level, price is less of a deciding point, so some consumers will decide based on customer service. At the same time, to avoid the commodity trap, firms offer better service as a way of justifying higher prices.
All of these things lead to an increased perception of “nice,” but I’m not sure that niceness has anything to do with it.
With all due respect, credibility could be an issue if a consulting firm named Nice Guy Strategies claims that being nice is the way to win. If a consulting firm of people over six feet tall named itself Tall People Strategies and proclaimed that people over six feet are generally superior performers (with some anecdotes and no comprehensive statistical backup), would there be a credibility issue?
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This is wishful thinking. “Nice” is culturally different in different parts of the country, but I travel all of the time and see no difference.
The author points out an obvious truth. It is great that this is becoming more common after such abuses by companies like Enron, Adelphia, back dating stock options and a torrent of other questionable ethical practices. Our great leaders placed a high value on giving, doing the right thing, and treating their customers like family. This requires an honest, open approach to everything they do, as well as placing your own needs second to those of your customers. When businesses realize this, everyone wins. Customers are happier, they increase their business and the employer has happier employees. Their business grows and the community around their business benefits as well. When we all take this approach to becoming an open business we will realize the importance this brings.
Make a list of all the successful jerks you have worked for and all the successful nice people. I think the list would be about the same length. Different strokes for different folks. Imagine if General George Patton was a nice guy? Or if Jesus was a jerk? Imagine if there were no bullies or jerks at work? It would get boring.
Competition for many of today’s businesses comes from all over the world making productivity, creativity and effectiveness more important then ever before.
An energized and engaged workforce made up of people who take responsibility and accountability for their performance and who are valued and celebrated by their company is essential in the ever more dynamic global marketplace.
The high cost of turnover isn’t a new concept but many of its causes are being more carefully analyzed and addressed by today’s companies who understand the impact to their future.
It isn’t so much about being “nice” as it is about ensuring that each associate is challenged and valued in the most positive way. How people judge what is “nice” is more about how they feel they are being treated, listened to and valued and this in turn drives their desire to see their company succeed, taking ownership in the bigger picture.
This approach does wonders for a company’s productivity and profitability and is a secret found and tapped by many of the industry’s most successful leaders over time, Sam Walton being one of the most successful.
Are companies responding? Just take a look at some of the new firms which have been established recently that teach such philosophies to all levels of management, such as The Soderquist Center founded by former Senior Vice Chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Don Soderquist. His organization is founded on the principal of transforming leadership in just such ways as this.
What a perfect follow-up to yesterday’s “Birds of a feather” discussion. I don’t think “nice guys” are doing any better or worse today than they were 10, 20, 40 years ago. Corporate (and customer) values vary dramatically from one retail setting to another, so it’s very hard (and misleading) to draw general conclusions from a few carefully chosen examples. For every Chick-fil-A, there’s an equal and opposite Moe’s Tavern….
Yes, Nordstorm, L.L.Bean, Chick-fil-A and others are being civil and they are doing really nice things. They should be applauded and followed by others as examples. I hope that trend has actually begun.
But … after regularly reading about the wholesale firings of good workers with years of loyal service as well as the constantly recurring bad-faith stock option scandals, and the extravagant rewards greedily occurring in corporate America; after reading about someone shooting their supervisor at work; after watching excerpts of the brawl at last weekend’s U. of Miami football game; after watching Congress at work as well as looking at the hundreds of nasty political ads of personal attacks currently on TV … I guess I am a little behind the curve in knowing about nice guys winning.
I might suggest that those who believe that this is anything widespread – occurring anywhere but in a few exemplary companies – are likely watching a different movie.
When I read, “We hear companies saying,” my radar is already up – no data. When the companies are quoted saying, “We need to employ more ethical practices, as well as…”, I wonder if any company (not under indictment) would really want to say, “Hey, we were not ethical enough before, but we are heading that way.”
Yes, you can be ethical and succeed. If companies are being more ethical, perhaps there is less tolerance for getting caught up in a company’s unethical practices.
Children were working in U.S. factories less than 100 years ago. Now we are beginning to be held accountable for conditions globally.
Email that never goes away and other technology has made it easier than ever for wrongdoers to get caught. If it is easier to get caught, like the current rash of stock option violations, then being unethical becomes bad for the bottom line and bad personally.
Whether it is more inspection or introspection that makes the workplace more responsible and employee-friendly, I’m all for the change.
A lot of changes are taking place that are driven in part by the recognition of the true shortage of talented people that we need to run our businesses.
The changes are also driven by the fact that totally unencumbered free market economics have been the dominant theme for the last 30 years or so, and now more people are beginning to see and perhaps believe that true success must involve things and measurement beyond the bottom line. I think the broad emphasis on sustainability is a great example of this.
I don’t see any difference in management practices over the last ten years other than some Christians have come out of the closet and started openly practicing their faith (at work and everywhere else). I now see people praying in fast food restaurants – you would never have seen this 10 years ago! Good managers have always been good motivators and therefore good builders. Management by intimidation only results in short term results. Employees who feel they are being abused fight back in subtle ways that eventually correct the problem – more often than not by forcing the business to close its doors.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there has been in increase in “professionalism” due to the increased education of the work force (to some extent). Taking that a step further, I can see how professionalism could be considered “nice.”
In addition, more and more companies are focusing on “customer service throughout the organization” or something similar. I can also see how this would be perceived as “nice.”
Furthermore, there are dueling market factors at work. When a market moves down towards the commodity level, price is less of a deciding point, so some consumers will decide based on customer service. At the same time, to avoid the commodity trap, firms offer better service as a way of justifying higher prices.
All of these things lead to an increased perception of “nice,” but I’m not sure that niceness has anything to do with it.
With all due respect, credibility could be an issue if a consulting firm named Nice Guy Strategies claims that being nice is the way to win. If a consulting firm of people over six feet tall named itself Tall People Strategies and proclaimed that people over six feet are generally superior performers (with some anecdotes and no comprehensive statistical backup), would there be a credibility issue?