汪世界

與人為善，是職場的升遷之道；許多職場達人以好好先生獲得同事、老闆「高EQ」的印象，工作表現也很好，但是有時候，當好好先生不見得是對的？很多人都有這樣經驗，拚命做濫好人，結果工作很苦，苦到自己，悶在心裡。現在還有一個數字出爐了──這周看到一篇不錯的文章「好好先生的職場危機」，它在講一本上個月才剛出版的書，這本書訪問了350個職場達人（其中包括50個CEO），關於「好好先生」的潛在問題。這問題其實相當大條，因為好好先生/小姐爬到CEO的位置以後，可能因為「太好」，害公司短少了8%的營收。作者對這50位大企業的執行長作市調，問他們「人太好」的狀況是否他們事業造成過一些影響？這些企業真的是大企業，包括PricewaterhouseCoopers、American Cancer Society、1-800-GOT-JUNK等各產業，無獨有偶的，這些已經事業成功的大CEO，回想起來，都有這樣「人太好」的經驗。作者將他們的答案收集起來，計算出「人太好」這個問題，真的就為這些企業的營收足足短少了8%。聰明的CEO為何不硬起來？人是情感動物，就算是在商言商，大家不可能照著生意做、照著規定來。但那8%怎麼辦?

報導指出三個「好好先生」平時可以為自己帶來的新思維：

一、商業是競爭的，好嗎？要面對它，不是逃避它，PricewaterhouseCoopers的CEO說，「做生意，無論你喜不喜歡，就是有競爭、有挑戰、必須積進(aggressive)！」

二、人好，不表示「事情」會跟著好，好嗎？所謂「對事不對人」，事情不好，最後大家都慘。American Cancer Society的CEO就說，對部屬或同事太好，該批不評，該硬不硬，事情無法做更好，在禮儀上是對他們好，但在職場上就是對他們不好，這個CEO甚至講重話稱好好先生為「disservice」，幫倒忙還傷害了對方！

三、針鋒相對並不見得是不好的事，好嗎？好好先生怕與人衝突(confrontation)，因為衝突這件事讓人不舒服。但好好先生若去瞭解「針鋒相對」本身的商業價值，那8%的loss，就不會這樣做了。1-800-GOT-JUNK的CEO有一個哲學是「一邊對幹一邊賽跑」(race to the conflict)，發現有爭議，就快點吵；吵完，解決它，兩邊吵完後一個早上就雨過天青，繼續工作。

(摘自Mr.6)

The danger of being too nice at work

If you're a nice person, you probably think that being nice works to your advantage in the office. After all, how could it be any other way? Genuinely nice people are well liked. They're generally easy to work with. They care about others and tend to have good values. In a fair and just world, that sort of behavior should be rewarded. Right?

Not necessarily. Too often, nice, competent people get passed up for promotions. Instead, the plum job goes to the prima donna or the person who plays politics. The bonus is bestowed upon the squeaky wheel or the obnoxious go-getter. In this environment, the nice guy really does finish last. It's frustrating because it goes against everything we were taught as a children about the Golden Rule.

What nice people may not realize is that they're too nice, and that being too nice can seriously stymie their career growth and success, says Russ Edelman, a SharePoint consultant and co-author of the book, Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office: Eight Strategies for Winning in Business Without Being a Jerk (Portfolio, 2008.) "The people in business who suffer from nice guy syndrome are not achieving their true potential," he says.

The problem with being too nice, according to Edelman -- who comes off as a very nice guy -- is that you're a doormat and people take advantage of you. Nice people are too concerned about pleasing others and not making waves that they don't stand up for themselves.

Edelman cites a nice man he interviewed for his book, who was vying for an executive position. The nice man was well-respected and well-liked in his company, and had a very good shot at the job. Of course, someone else was competing for the position. When the nice man was asked in an interview about his competitor, according to Edelman the nice guy said he thought his competitor would do a fantastic job. The nice contender wound up writing a letter of recommendation for his competitor because he didn't want to cause a stir by vying for the executive-level job, says Edelman. End result: The competitor got the job, and the nice guy remained in his spot on the corporate ladder.

"The nice guy is forever putting the oxygen mask on someone else before putting it on himself," says Edelman.

The Cost of Nice in Business

Being too nice is not just a problem for individuals. It's a problem for businesses, too. Employees who are too nice cost businesses time and money.

In a survey of 50 CEOs, Edelman asked about the impact of "being too nice" on their businesses. The CEOs responded by saying that being too nice cost them eight percent of their gross revenues. In other words, if the CEOs' companies had been more aggressive, they believed they could have earned more money.

Edelman notes that managers who are too nice are reluctant to make decisions on their own. They fear hurting the feelings of anyone whom they don't ask for feedback, so they include everyone in their decision-making. That wastes time and can lead to missed opportunities.

"The overly nice guy usually defers to others. They're reluctant to create losers," says Edelman. The irony is that in the process of trying to make everyone a winner, the nice guy ends up the loser.

Managers who are too nice also avoid confrontation, says Edelman. They'd rather ignore problems than address them head on. Of course, ignoring problems only makes them worse, and burying one's head in the sand does not inspire the confidence of the manager's team or of his superiors, adds Edelman. It only inspires their ire.

"If you appease everyone, if you fear hurting people's feelings, you do a disserve to whatever project you're working on, to yourself and your business," says Edelman. "That's where being too nice is not nice at all."

Advice for People Who Are Too Nice

Softies need to toughen up, says Edelman. "I'm not advocating that people become jerks or SOBs," he says, "But they need to find a balance to stay true to their nice nature while also being appropriately assertive and protecting their interests."

The challenge, then, for nice people is to redefine what it means to be nice, says Edelman, and to understand that being nice doesn't have to mean being a doormat. You can be nice and be assertive and deal with confrontation and set boundaries, he adds.

Here are three concepts nice people need to understand to succeed at work:

1. Business is competitive. Deal with it. Edelman interviewed Sam DiPiazza Jr., the CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers, for his book. DiPiazza had this to say about business, according to Edelman: "Business, whether we like it or not, includes competition. It's challenging, aggressive and very demanding. Despite the perception of many, it can also be performed nicely."

2. Sometimes being nice isn't very nice at all. Edelman also spoke with the CEO of the American Cancer Society, John Seffrin, who believes that when mangers are too nice and are incapable of having honest discussions with others (such as during a performance review) for fear of hurting feelings, they're in fact not being nice at all and they're doing a disservice to the people they manage.

3. Confrontation is not necessarily a bad thing. Nice people avoid confrontation because it's uncomfortable, says Edelman. If nice people are to be more assertive, they need to understand the business value of confrontation: it allows them to solve problems. Edelman points to a strategy employed by 1-800-GOT-JUNK CEO Brian Scudamore, which Scudamore calls "race to the conflict." The idea is, if a conflict or issue comes up, employees should race to it to get it resolved as quickly as possible. If they don't, they're wasting time.