Nice Guys Finish Last?
I’m a nice guy. That’s what people tell me and that’s what I believe I am. Sometimes it’s tricky being a nice guy though. Peter Shankman wrote about nice guys recently in Never confuse “Being a nice guy” for “Weakness”. Peter writes “At the end of the day, being “a nice guy,” when well thought out, can propel you into the stratosphere of success, and you don’t have to be “the assh***” to get there.” What catches my eye in that sentence is the “when well thought out” part. I don’t have to think about being a nice guy. I just am. And sometimes over the years it had caused me to get stepped on. Which could be considered “weakness”. At some moments in the past when I knew I wasn’t being treated fairly I retaliated, sometimes violently. I’ve since learned to calm down. Being a nice guy doesn’t mean I can’t be assertive and avoid getting stepped on. And as I’ve grown older I’ve learned that being a nice guy can be way more powerful than being a jerk. I have a new favorite book, The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea. One of the reviewers of The Go-Giver writes “shifting the focus from getting to giving and putting the other person first is the key to business success and personal fulfillment” and I believe that wholeheartedly.
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