Using kindness has big payoffs

By Karen Salmansohn | Special to amNewYork

11:43 AM EDT, May 5, 2008

Companies have long capitalized on the innate human desire for self-betterment. Just look at the long list of juices out there that promise to make us smarter, more focused, more passionate, more relaxed and so on.

But there never seems to be a juice or soft drink marketed to make you nicer. This is a shame, since studies have shown that the kinder we are, the happier we are. Not only that, being nice can affect many other areas of our lives, including our self-esteem and our bank account balance.

According to Linda Kaplan Thaler, founder of the award winning ad agency The Kaplan Thaler Group and author of "The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the World with Kindness," kindness pays at work.

Her book details a great many examples where nice guys finish first on the business front. Indeed, niceness opens the most doors, wins the most business arguments and improves all work relationships. Plus, nicer people spend less time in court. Studies found that doctors who had never been sued spoke to their patients an average of three minutes longer than physicians who had been sued twice or more.

So here¹s your assignment, should you be kind enough to accept it: Choose to be more kind at the office. This doesn¹t mean you need to be a big pushover, but try to be kind in little ways. This can mean smiling more, offering to get co-workers coffee, being a good listener, doing something nice for the people you don¹t like, and being more empathetic in general. If you¹re feeling daring, try extending a compliment to your competition in front of clients. You¹ll not only garner career rewards by day for these behaviors, you¹ll sleep better at night.

Karen Salmansohn is a best-selling author with over one-million books sold.

For more career advice, visit www.notsalmon.com