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The Power of Nice
Book by Linda Kaplan Thaler & Robin Koval
“How to conquer the world with kindness”
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Introductions/Acknowlegments
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My Journey
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Makeup of audience
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Welcome
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Objective: To share and hopefully assist you in your
important work everyday as a SAM/Principal team or
someone who supports Pre-school-12 education
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When you hear the word “nice” what
do you think of?
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Meet the Parents video clip
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Common Views of Nice
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“Nice guys/gals finish last”
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“No good deed goes unpunished”
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“Me vs. You philosophy wins the day”
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“Nice people don’t get the corner office”
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“Nice is consider wimpy, passive, pollyanna
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What does it really mean?
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Nice is not being naïve
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Nice does not mean others walk all over you
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Nice does not mean being a doormat
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Todd Whitaker– “Treat everyone as if they are good”
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“Nice is the toughest four-letter word you’ll even hear- it
means moving forward with confidence from knowing that
being nice and placing others’ needs on same level as your
own will get you everything you want”
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Jim Sorenson- “Fierce
Conversations”
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Can you be “nice” and still have those fierce conversations?
Absolutely
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We can and should have fierce conversations at times
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Our careers, our schools, our districts succeed or fail gradually
and then suddenly, one conversation at a time
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The conversation IS the relationship (we build emotional capital
through deposits or withdrawals all day long)
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All conversations are with myself and sometimes they involve
other people.
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My experience last night (airline)
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Six Power of Nice Principles
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Positive impressions are like seeds- Importance of how people are greeted
each time they come into your school
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You never know – Chris L., health care, etc.
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Small gestures and actions can have an enormous impact
Negative impressions are like germs-- poison
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No idea who might become important to you 10, 20, 30 years from now
Nice must be automatic– Make it part of who you are
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Treat everyone you meet as if they are the most important person in the worldbecause they are
People change
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Lays the groundwork for many opportunities down the road
Impressions are in the eye of the beholder
You will know
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Value niceness, in yourself and in others, the same way we respect intelligence, beauty,
or talent
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Nice Tools
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Exercise your niceness muscles
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Be a “best supporting actor”
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Model yourself after the kind of person you admire
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Hold a networking party (e.g., SAM conf.)
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Make a difference (pass it on)
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Throw out the scorecard
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Flash a smile
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Mimic the masters (make others laugh)
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Offer a sweet
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Say something genuinely nice to the person who irritates you the most
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List your fiercest rivals- think of one thing you can do to help that person
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Designate one day a week as a “gossip free” day
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Go on a truth diet
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Have the courage to be honest
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Take off your mask
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Play “and then what will happen”
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Mimic the Masters
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Make others laugh
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Video clips: Lucille Ball, Change Therapy, Snow
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Become an active audience member
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Find the “yes” in the “no”
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Mark Shellinger--- validate, a thousand yeses, solution
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Zip your lip and listen to others
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Honor your debts- Those who got you to where you are
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Irritation is the mother of invention (find solutions to complaints
of others)
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Star in someone else’s movie
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Find the feeling
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Finish the Following Sentences…
“Honor Your Debts”
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I never would have made it to where I am without….
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I owe a great debt to….
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I take courage from….
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My greatest teacher was…..
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Share with a partner!
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None of us gets ahead on our own!!
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Most Important Skill for Anyone Who
Wants to Harness the Power of Nice
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Ability to put yourself in someone else’s place
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Empathetic people are superb at recognizing and meeting the
needs of clients, customers, and subordinates.
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They seem approachable
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They listen
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They praise others for their successes
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They try to see the other person’s “movie”
Remember the words of Todd Whitaker– Treat everyone as if
they are good (even if you know they aren’t always)
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Leadership is the art of getting
others to do something that you
want done because they want to do
it. Dwight D. Eisenhower
 Video–
Leadership Lessons From the Dancing
Guy-YouTube
 Read
ending of book