Being Nice
Do you think that being nice to your team or peers or customers is not necessary ? Or are you of the opinion that if you are nice (specially to your subordinates), you will be termed as a "weak" leader ? I absolutely disagree with that . On the contrary, I think that being extraordinarily nice is the way to be ! You will attract undivided trust,extreme loyalty exceptional customer satisfaction and above all you yourself will feel damn good about it. Believe me. It is contagious ! I have experienced it !
And "being nice" is not limited to anyone. Anyone can be nice. I recollect an incident which I experienced about 12-14 years back. I had gone on an assignment to London - for doing the requirement study for a large MNC. I had and still have an intense desire to explore new places and I was thrilled to bits about being able to see Big Ben, Thames, Buckingham palace, Harrods, Hyde Park and so on .. With very limited money and very very limited time (only on weekends), I tried to make the most of it. On one fine evening , I was very hungry and wanted to eat Indian food. Lots of Indian joints . The problem was that if I wanted to have an extra serving of rice with the delicious prawn curry, I would have had to forego visiting the Oxford University and Avon. I decided on the latter and ordered the most frugal Indian meal . Somehow the Bangadeshi waiter understood and after a few minutes, brought a steaming plate of rice and said that this is free - from his own share ! He was being astoundingly nice. I was so touched that whenever I went to London, I always visited that joint. And then I did not need free servings. Instead , I could take gifts for him and gave very good feedback about him . Guess what ? After a few years , he opened his own Indian food restaurant which is stupendously popular !
I have experienced the results of "Being Nice" with so many people with whom I have interacted at my workplace. "Being Nice" and " being assertive" are not mutually exclusive. You can be both. And you exude power by Being Nice.
Leadership is about " nicely assertive". Right??
ReplyDeleteHmm ... well , you can say be assertive but in a nice manner
ReplyDeleteLeadership is not only nicely assertive but a lot more - walk the talk, demonstrate, explore, exemplify, extempore, achieve more than expected...
ReplyDeleteI think you've hit the nub of the issue. Without getting into the required components of what makes a leader--in whichever sphere of life--I assert--nicely!--being nice is probably the one quality that would make life "sweeter". And the dashed thing is, it costs no money and hardly any additional time. And yet the impact it has on people can be profound as your anecdote illustrates.
ReplyDeleteIt is the common courtesies of life that have gone missing though the methods to connect have multiplied. Irony.