Winning Nice

June 11, 2007
Proving nice guys and gals can finish first, Stone offers evidence from her own career, including her win on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
. As founder and publisher of Her Sports+Fitness
magazine, she and Dieter, her husband, weave her professional life story to date with advice gathered as they’ve sprinted down their respective career paths. With the same attention to detail and good cheer she exhibited through her weeks on the show, she shares the business etiquette and interpersonal skills she credits with her success. That advice, which forms her seven building blocks, is easily implemented—like smiling to set the tone of a meeting even when it occurs by phone. Always upbeat, Stone incorporates her advice with inspirational quotes from sources as diverse as basketball legend Michael Jordan, Woodrow Wilson and publisher Steve Forbes. Stressing the effectiveness of niceties like thank-you notes, she offers detailed directions on how to politely and effectively ask for raises and ace job interviews. Countering the reigning notion that business success is a matter of crushing or being crushed, she advises the best way to help yourself is by helping others. It is, Stone says, not winning that should be important, but how you win.