Is it just me, or has 'nice' somehow become a negative word?

The Oxford dictionary describes nice as meaning 'good-natured and kind'. That sounds great, so why in modern parlance has the word nice become a bit bland?

I read 'On Being Nice' by The School of Life last week and they've got several ideas why 'nice' has attracted some negative connotations. The author proposes that we're influenced by cultural themes like:

1) religion - being nice and being successful are sometimes presented as polar opposites. E.g. you can be nice OR rich. You can't be both.
2) romanticism - admirable people are intense, spontaneous and follow their heart despite the consequences - being nice is conservative and dull in comparison
3) capitalism - we have to battle each other for our share of the pie - you can't be nice if you need to be prepared to out manoeuvre the opposition. Smart people aren't nice.

I can see how these points could be impacting how we perceive being nice. But you'll have heard this Mizner quote - 'be nice to people on the way up...because you'll meet them on the way down'. If you're kind to and support everyone else, you'll collectively create more success, including your own.

So with that theme of being kind, lets flip the agenda this week. Instead of creating actions to further your career, what action can you take this week to support someone elses?

I expect you have a few ideas already but here's a few from me to help get the cogs turning:
- arrange for someone to shadow your team for the day and learn from you
- introduce two people who would benefit from a conversation
- share your own career story
- help someone update their CV
- boost someones confidence through by a great piece of work.

I'm taking a stand for the 'and'. I think we can be nice AND successful, nice AND wealthy, nice AND exciting.

Hit reply and share how you've been nice this week.

P.S. Be kind - whose career can you support this week?