The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness

by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval

Book Overview

Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval have moved to the top of the advertising industry by following a simple but powerful philosophy: it pays to be nice. Where so many companies encourage a dog eat dog mentality, the Kaplan Thaler Group has succeeded through chocolate and flowers. In The Power of Nice, through their own experiences and the stories of other people and businesses, they demonstrate why, contrary to conventional wisdom, nice people finish...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385518927
• ISBN13: 9780385518925
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Crown Currency
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Honey or Vinegar: which would you choose?

Walking through the down town train terminal in Melbourne to catch the 12:15 p.m. `rocket train' to Bendigo, a gold rush town of 19th century Australia, which still manages to carry on and exist despite our states current lack of water, to see an old friend from my university days; trying to kill time, came across this extraordinary book. Short in length, the book's content strangely connecting to a conversation about business with a friend the night before, I decided to buy the text and read it on my two hour journey...excellent. As the two successful advertising business women claim, to be `nice' is much more powerful than the age-old capitalist strategies in business: intimidation, arrogance, intrigue and a conscience capability to `make the kill' has always been the mark of any successful person or company. What Thaler and Koval have discovered is that basic good manners, being cordial, friendly, and unconsciously kind, will bring in more business than the other. The author's give the reader many examples of `nice' over arrogance, kindness over aggression, but the most simple and compelling anecdote was the story about their buildings security guard, Frank. Frank is a larger than life human being who, everyday, meets the NYC workers that move hurriedly to the elevator in search of that first cup of coffee or unfinished presentation. Good old Frank always greets each person with a big grin and a heartfelt `Good Morning'. This greeting is sincere and as time moved along, the workers' for the authors advertising business felt better in the morning and wittled it down to the fact that Frank was the reason (or part of the reason for their change of attitude in the mornings) and began to change their own approaches to business as a result. The most interesting aspect of this story is that Frank won them one of their biggest accounts, an airline of international distinction. As the anecdote goes, the out-of-town- execs were a little edgy about coming to NYC, as its reputation, in terms of rudeness, is world renown. The execs entered the building and old Frank was there standing guard at the elevator, smiling, hand extended, welcoming them to NYC and the Kaplan Thaler Group. As the author's note, the presentation had been good, but the airlines comments, that if a company had a man likes Frank at their front door, they must be on the ball - the Thaler Kaplan Group won the account. In life and business kindness and niceness goes a long way; and if consciously practiced, might have huge beneficial outcomes. Good manners, please and thank you, listening with intent, honesty, put up with, and are nice to, those that irritate; try to keep the focus of conversation away from yourself, listen with even more intent, give little gifts, chocolates or sweet items that can be eaten without guilt; Swallow your ego from time to time and let it go, giving something you love to someone else that needs it more; Compliment but with sincerity, smile, smil

Being nice can pay off!

It sounds basic, but being nice is just something that not everybody does--or at least not often enough . . . and if that's the case in your company or organization, then please get and read THE POWER OF NICE: HOW TO CONQUER THE BUSINESS WORLD WITH KINDNESS by advertising executives Linda Kaplan Thealer and Robin Koval. This is a small but powerful book, packed with plenty of examples from the corporate world . . . however, students and others would greatly benefit from reading it as well, as what the authors have to say makes an awful lot of sense in any situation. For example, they talk about how this one little act of kindness made a flight attendant's day: While traveling on a business trip from Los Angeles to New York, Rachel Pine noticed that the airline crew looked extremely harried. So when the flight attendant came by to check her seat belt, Rachel offered her a Fig Newton from her family-size pack. "She took it, and was so grateful that she looked like she was going to burst into tears," said Rachel. Soon after, the attendant returned and asked Rachel to follow her--to first class. "The attendant said, `You have no idea what our last flight was like. If just one passenger had been like you, it would have been bearable.' " I also liked this technique for getting people to pay money that they owe: Gail tried a number of tactics to convince her creditors to pay--from letters that said "Please pay soon" festooned with smiley faces to diplomatic phone calls--but nothing worked. Desperate, she stumbled on what turned out to be a brilliantly effective idea: bribing them with baked goods. "I would send out reminders of past-due invoices with the enticement that if paid by a specified date, I would reward the client with fresh baked cookies, brownies, cake--whatever they wanted. And it worked." And then there's this technique that I currently use (and suggest that others do, too): The next time someone close to you is feeling cranky or disagreeable, try handing them a few chocolate Kisses or offering them the candy bowl. Although scientists haven't completely unraveled the mysteries of chocolate, they do know it contains several organic compounds that produce feelings of well-being in the human brain. The tryptophan found in chocolate, for example, enables the brain to create serotonin, an organic compound that can produce feelings of elation and ecstasy. And the phenylethylamine in chocolate stimulates the brain's pleasure centers and produces many of the feelings of infatuation, including giddiness, attraction, and excitement. Lastly, THE POWER OF NICE contained some great exercises that anybody could utilize . . . this one, in particular, caught my attention: Zip your lip For one day, try to say as little as possible. Try to keep the focus away from yourself. Where you're tempted to tell a story, ask a question. Where you're tempted to say, "Oh, that same thing happened to me...," ask, "How did that make you feel?" Don't

Good book, Poor cover

Stuck in LA . Flight delayed,Desperate for a short but useful book. The last book I would normally pick is one with a smiley face. Glad I did. The book's Big Idea: we are all connected and when we do one nice thing it spreads and rebounds---in often very unexpected ways---to our benefit. Useful examples on how helping supposed enemies is often good business; insightful ideas on treating today's adversaries like tomorrow's allies; unconvential tactics on moving your frames from "no" to "yes". By the time the flight was ready to board, the book read through---a lot wiser. What they say about books and their covers, so true.

Business can be nice

As a bzz agent I get to get some great info ahead of the mainstream. This Is one book I'm glad to have read. The idea for individuals to be nice to each other and the rewards will come has been out there for a while. There's the "teachings" of Deepak Chopra, the movie "Pay it Forward," "The Power of Positive Thinking" (although this one is more on an individual level), Chicken Soup for the Soul and Random Acts of Kindness. These are simple ways of living in which we can be nice to one another and "karma" or the univers will see to it we get our just rewards. Well now the business world can take heed. "The Power of Nice" has a business approach to being nice can help your business grow faster than dog-eat-dog. The authors have cited their own examples of how this has worked for them and have gathered real-life examples from others in the business world. You will read examples from Donald Trump (yes he can actually be nice) to Jay Leno. Now, the really interesting part of this book is not the examples but they have exercises at the end of the chapters, which they call "Nice Cubes" that can help you actually put it into practice. They have also created "The Six Power of Nice Principles" which are a great way to refresh your self and your co-workers on how to be nice in the business world.

What your mom said was true.

I was sent The Power of Nice as part of a bzz campaign and really enjoyed it. The book reinforced what I've believed for years that being nice does lead to a very successful business career and life. Their practical examples and real life stories combined with the research presented made the book more than just feel good fluff.