“I have two criteria for hiring: Are you smart? Are you nice?”
– Gail McGovern, Chair, American Red Cross
I worked for Gail McGovern. She knows leadership. Gail’s been Executive Vice President at AT&T, President of Fidelity Personal Investments, and co-chair of the Johns Hopkins Board of Trustees. Trained as a mathematician, she understands the importance of intelligence, skill, and performance. But she also insists on something equally vital — being nice.
We’ve all heard the saying: Half of any job is getting the work done. The other half is how it gets done. That’s easy to say and hard to live.
Workplace pressures — deadlines, budgets, politics, difficult personalities — can make “being nice” challenging. And yet, kindness and respect are exactly what hold teams together when things get tough.
I’ve had to make painful leadership decisions: layoffs, reorganizations, service cuts, firings. None of that felt nice to those on the receiving end. One boss told me I was too nice, and another told me I needed to be tougher. Striking the right balance isn’t a formula; it’s an ongoing practice shaped by culture, timing, and circumstance.
Being nice isn’t about being sweet, or even about personality; it’s about behavior. It’s about how you:
-
Listen and communicate.
-
Disagree respectfully.
-
Support colleagues and staff.
-
Acknowledge mistakes.
-
Say “thank you” and “I’m sorry.”
In the end, effective leadership requires both head and heart — intelligence that drives results, and kindness that sustains relationships.
Leadership is about being smart and being nice.
Let’s discuss how you bring both to your leadership.