Are Small Business Leaders Successful Because They Are Nice, or Nice Because They Are Successful?

This week I want to address a chicken and egg type question – are small business leaders so nice because they’re super successful, or are they super successful because they’re so nice?

In my experience, it always seems to happen this way – small business owners will see somebody in need, and they leap to offer assistance. They are extremely kind and generous.

If you look at the statistics for charitable giving, you’ll see the same thing. Small business leaders are always generous with their time and their treasure. This is true in churches, charitable organizations, and other local organizations, etc.

And yet, there’s this stereotype out there that business owners are just rampaging mad men, slave drivers who demand the most from their employees and all this other stuff, and though I’m sure there are people out there like that, it has not been my experience. The business owners we deal with just seem to be among the very kindest people you can imagine.

So, our theory is this. Our theory is that they’re not nice because they’ve been so successful in their careers, these are really genuinely good hearted nice people. And that’s been a launching pad for their careers. In a small business, I really don’t think that you can get ahead if you’re one of these rampaging bullying, yelling, screaming, and such types of people. I think it really does take somebody with a big heart to attract the right kind of people to them, both in their employees and their lifetime customers.

And I think that’s what our people have. So my theory is they’re not nice because they’re successful, they’re successful because they’re super nice people. I’d love to hear your own theories about that. Let me know in the comments if this has been your experience as well, and if you have any specific stories about a time when a small business owner gave you a hand, please share them here, too!