Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office: Eight Strategies for Winning in Business Without Being a Jerk.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Book review

Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office: Eight Strategies for Winning in Business Without Being a Jerk. By Russ C. Edelman, Timothy R., Hiltabiddle and Charles C. Manz. Portfolio, 284 pages. $23.95.

It's cliche to assume that every chief executive is overbearing or narcissistic--though some certainly are--or that chief financial officers or their subordinates are somehow less effective in getting what they want. But a notion remains that "niceness" isn't an asset for climbing the corporate ladder. The authors set out to establish a new paradigm for "nice" behavior that isn't subservient or unassertive, but stresses optimal outcomes for the "nice guys" and others.

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The book reflects not just the authors' belief sets, but the views of a group of prominent current and former chief executive officers like Vanguard Group's John Bogle, Southwest Airlines' Herb Kelleher, Ernest & Young's Jim...