{"id":3606,"date":"2014-01-07T08:51:59","date_gmt":"2014-01-07T14:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=3606"},"modified":"2014-01-07T08:52:53","modified_gmt":"2014-01-07T14:52:53","slug":"the-4-temptations-of-nice-people-leadership-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2014\/01\/07\/the-4-temptations-of-nice-people-leadership-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The 4 Temptations of \u201cNice-People Leadership\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally posted November 9, 2009<\/em><\/p>\n

Can nice people be effective leaders? The short answer is \u201cyes\u201d, but we must vigilantly be on guard against certain temptations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s be honest. In our culture being labeled as \u2018nice\u2019 has become the kiss of leadership death. I can still remember comments on my report cards going back as far as first grade, where my teachers would note, \u201cScott is very conscientious, and he\u2019s a very nice boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Great. Why not just say, \u201cScott is destined to a life of obscurity.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve since learned that nice people can and do lead with just as much effectiveness as our tough-as-nails counterparts. It\u2019s just that we have to pay particular attention to a few temptations. Here are four temptations of nice leaders.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The temptation to avoid hard conversations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every leader needs to be able to tackle tough issues with those whom they are leading. As nice leaders we need to recognize our aversion to these conversations and compensate by being disciplined and focused.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. The temptation to avoid clarity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nice leaders can be so afraid of hurting someone\u2019s feelings that we\u2019ll shroud our comments in vague euphemisms. Every time you walk away from a conversation ask yourself, \u201cDid I get my message across with crystal clarity?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. The temptation to seek popularity over respect.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can you say \u2018Michael Scott\u2019? The branch manager from TV\u2019s \u2018The Office\u2019 is the poster child for seeking being \u2018liked\u2019 over being respected.<\/strong><\/p>\n

4. The temptation to expect too little from people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nice leaders will sometimes lower the bar so low for their people that the organization flounders in a sea of mediocrity. Our people will accomplish more if we set the bar high and show them how to get there.<\/p>\n

Avoiding these temptations doesn\u2019t mean becoming someone you\u2019re not. Don\u2019t fake tough.<\/p>\n

Instead, if you\u2019re a fellow nice person trying to make it as a leader, start by being aware of these temptations.<\/p>\n

You may well find that being nice doesn\u2019t disqualify you from effective leadership.<\/p>\n

What have you learned about being \u201cnice\u201d in your leadership?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally posted November 9, 2009 Can nice people be effective leaders? The short answer is \u201cyes\u201d, but we must vigilantly be on guard against certain temptations. Let\u2019s be honest. In our culture being labeled as \u2018nice\u2019 has become the kiss of leadership death. I can still remember comments on my report cards going back as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[738,478,7,581,1,704,585],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-effectiveness-2","category-featured","category-leadership","category-self-assessment","category-uncategorized","category-value","category-wisdom-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3606"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3615,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3606\/revisions\/3615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}