Nice Sells

One of my Linkedin contacts, Michelle Krupa, posted an article from the web site Makeit.com, a portal from CNBC.  The headline read:

“Mark Cuban: ‘One of the most underrated skills in business right now is being nice.’”

Thank you, Michelle. Thank you, Mark. You reminded me of one of my core values.  The truth is that it took me many years to figure this out. Good things come to good people. And more importantly, everyone deserves respect, politeness and a smile every once in while.

Mark Cuban owns the Dallas Mavericks and stars on ABC’s “Shark Tank”.  He is worth an estimated $3.9 billion.

This article tells us that Cuban told Vanity Fair in a 2018 interview that being nice is a simple skill that anyone can develop and that can go a long way: “One of the most underrated skills in business right now is being nice. Nice sells.”

And it goes on to credit Cuban as saying “To put it bluntly, at the end of the day, people hate dealing with people who are jerks. It’s always easier to be nice than to be a jerk. Don’t be a jerk.”

These days, I work hard at being nice.  It helps me. I feel good.

But as well, and certainly not the reason I try to be nice, I love to see other’s reactions when I make an effort to say ‘thank you’, or ask if they need help, or simply smile.

In business, on a plane from Vancouver to Toronto, at a conference in Burlington Vermont, anywhere, anytime, it pays to be nice.

Nice sells.