The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness by Linda Kaplan Thaler & Robin Koval

Author:Linda Kaplan Thaler & Robin Koval [Thaler, Linda Kaplan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2006-09-18T14:00:00+00:00

TAKE DOWN YOUR GAME FACE

Ad executive Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin was standing in an elevator with her client at the United Parcel Service headquarters, headed to a meeting. Baskin asked the client how things were going, and the client suddenly burst into tears.

“She told me that every morning her three-year-old son stands outside her shower sobbing because she has to leave for work at 6 A.M. and doesn’t come home until 7 or 8 at night. It was tearing her apart,” says Baskin, the CEO of Tribe Inc. Advertising in Atlanta.

Many people would have been horrified and embarrassed by such an outburst. After all, in corporate America, crying in the office is one of the biggest taboos. But Baskin didn’t shrink away; in fact, she offered the client a job. “We had lunch, and I told her that I’d been thinking about hiring someone who could run my agency and eventually be president. She immediately said, ‘I could do that!’” So Baskin offered her the job. “It was the best hire I ever made,” she said.

This might seem like a reckless move—after all, Baskin had only had about six or seven meetings with her client. But Baskin had noticed the way she moved around the very stiff, conservative UPS headquarters. “I saw the way she would tap someone on the shoulder. She was very warm and loving, which stood out in that very formal environment.”

Warm and loving? This is how you get to be the president of a company? Well, certainly not all companies. In the recent corporate scandals, you can bet that the executives who were frog-marched out of their office doors in handcuffs didn’t write “warm and loving” on their résumés. You can bet they never hired someone after a teary outburst.

But Baskin was impressed that her client had the courage to reveal her true feelings. She understood that someone who can show their genuine emotions is an asset to the company. This, of course, is not the conventional wisdom. There’s an idea in business that the best way to conduct oneself is to be cold and stone-faced. We recall the boss who, after an important meaning, would lean over victoriously and say, “Well, John really revealed himself in that one.” As if our boss had won a big conquest. We also recall a coworker who, after a meeting with a client, crowed, “We really pulled the wool over his eyes.”

The problem with such a strategy is that the person who is skilled at hiding his emotions is probably also going to be quite skilled at deception. In the short term, this can work out—they may bluster their way into someone’s office and get the job, or win the project from an unsuspecting client. But over time, clients and coworkers will realize this person cannot be trusted. And that’s when doors are closed and opportunities missed.

Baskin’s respect for emotional honesty is rare in corporate America, but perhaps her approach will catch on as more women assume decision-making roles in the country’s biggest companies.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.