Customer Reviews

Winning Nice: How to Succeed in Business and Life Without Waging War

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Walk into any bookstore, and you will find an abundance of motivational, how-to-succeed-in-business books. Why would you want to pick out Winning Nice from among the others? For one, its author is Dawna Stone, a woman who has lived out the success that she teaches. Dawna founded Her Sports + Fitness magazine, achieved striking success within Fortune 500 companies, and won The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. But there's more! Dawna is also an avid athlete and has found time to sustain strong connections with family and friends.

Winning Nice is about succeeding in business AND in life. If you've ever been told that you're too "nice" and can't succeed in business that way, then this book is for you. Each chapter reads like a personal mentoring session with Dawna. Chapters open with bulleted agenda items and contain vivid personal examples. She outlines what it takes to be effective while being respectable and respectful.

On the other hand, if you feel too driven, as if a negative business atmosphere has swallowed up your life, then this book will also be for you. Dawna shows how "nice" people are the only ones who win in both their private and professional lives. Ironically, the same "winning nice" strategies that benefit your personal life also allow you to be the most effective leader in the workplace. According to the author, you will actually win more if you win "nice."

Corporate America is sometimes referred to as a giant rat race, a dog-eat-dog world. This perspective drains the life out of even the most hopeful employee. In Winning Nice, Dawna Stone invites her reader to rise above the day-to-day in order to glimpse a new vision of the workplace. Through concrete examples, she illustrates just how powerful "nice" can be. With a positive perspective and appropriate boundaries, the corporate world can be both thrilling and fulfilling. It can be the perfect complement to a satisfying personal life. This is the vision of Winning Nice.

Armchair Interviews says: What a refreshing vision that is!

Great book! I just finished reading this uplifting, easy-to-read manual of doing it right. I often found myself saying "yeah! That's a great idea. Why didn't I think of that?" and "I can do that!" Dawna and Matt offer practical advice and practices that we can all implement immediately.
I am an elementary school teacher and found the advice to be applicable both with my students and dealing with peers and supervisors. I have left a copy in our faculty room and encouraged others to read it. I may even try some of the suggestions on my husband ---but don't tell him!

I picked up this book after reading that the author was also the founder of my favorite magazine, Her Sports & Fitness.
I loved the book because it encourages people to be themselves at work. I found it really uplifting, especially because it's evident from the stories in the book that it is possible to win by being "nice." The book is great for people at any point in their career it seems. My favorite thing about it is that it allows you to think about the big picture. I have definitely found that when I'm nice to people I feel so much happier, but it can be so hard to keep that in mind when work is hectic or people aren't cooperating.
This book is loaded with reminders on how to be the person I want to be, and I've already started implementing it into my everyday. I think it's great, and I highly recommend it. I am going to keep it around and refer to the tips in this book.

Winning Nice is a story about how we do well by doing "good" as the saying goes, but more importantly, the message is that we do well by doing well by others. That's a powerful message by someone I suspect lives this principle every day.

I have been waiting for this book for a long time, since I first met the author, Dawna Stone. Ours was a routine business meeting, but there was something remarkable about this young lady, something that gave me pause and made her memorable: it was her genuine quality.

In her book Dawna notes how important it is to look the other person in the eye and listen, really listen. These are not idle notes on the page because that's precisely how I remember Dawna, as a listener. Her book is a page-turner; and by that I mean reading it feels like having a warm conversation with a friend. The "tips" come fluidly in Winning Nice, but I suspect they are an expression of how Dawna Stone lives her life - as someone who looks you in the eye, talks straight - and above all listens.

I say this as a tribute to Dawna and as a strong recommendation for her book: every page matches what I remember about the person across the table! Those who pick up this book and read it will truly gain, because it's written by an authority.

Easily one of the best books on the market as far as applicable tips. People looking to be classier, kinder, more successful, more impressive at work should pick this book up and read it. The stories she tells and the tips she gives are easy applied to real-life scenarios. As a college professor, I was impressed and believe this book can lend a hand in finding success in one's career and one's personal life.

Unlike this book, so many other business & motivational books are full of fluff or obvious tips. This book had tips I had never even thought of - and some of these little ideas she shares could probably make the difference between a mediocre working experience and an incredible working experience. I'm glad I picked it up and feel like I now have a new set of tools to bring to work.

I also found her stories about believing in yourself to be quite inspiring -- I never knew some of these people had such rough starts before finding success.

Anyways, love this book.

While it's sad that there needs to be book about how to treat people, Dawna does a great job of pointing out how being a good person gets you ahead in life and business. She does it without coming across preachy too. I have recently changed directions within my company and this book has some great ideas for me to try in my new role. Thanks Dawna for helping to promote good manners!

I bought this book after subscribing and enjoying Dawna Stone's magazine "Her Sports and Fitness". After reading her book about how she found her passion and how she achieved her success, I have even more respect for her. This book describes what the top tier of people do that gets them there; and its not about being bossy or sneaky or thinking only about yourself--its about making the extra effort and surrounding yourself with postive people and retaining your ethics. The part that stuck home was how she described three phases to careers and how non-traditional careers are; no longer do we climb a straight path up a ladder with one business anymore.

If you're looking for a behind-the-scenes tell-all about Dawna Stone's experience on Martha Stewart's "Apprentice," you're going to disappointed. And that's a good thing, too, since Stone opts instead to offer some timeless advice about how to manage people and succeed in business without being the type of ruthless, win-at-all-costs person that's right out of reality TV central casting. Stone is at her best when she's talking about the challenges of her start-up magazine, the four-year-old Her Sports + Fitness, and I would have liked to have read more about that unlikely success story. She relies perhaps a little too much from familiar quotes and anecdotes from the likes of Ken Blanchard, Jim Collins, etc., and that's a shame since clearly she has plenty of her own material. It's tough at times to keep track of all of the many jobs she's had in less than two decades. Clearly this is an author who is always on the move up. Perhaps her next book will have more first-person material --and we triathletes wouldn't mind a little more insight into how Stone, an Ironman finisher, has used the sport to fuel her business success. Still, whether you're someone out of college trying to navigate the corporate world, a thirtysomething getting your first taste of management, or a first-time entrepreneur ready to take the plunge, you'll find this book invaluable.

Recently I completed reading the "Winning Nice: How to Succeed in Business and Life Without Waging War" by Dawna Stone (Winner of the Apprentice: Martha Stewart and founder of Her Sports + Fitness magazine). Dawna brings in her myriad of experience and explains some real world situations and their solutions. Every chapter also has a sweet short ending summarizing the contents and listing the action points. Dawna also chips in experiences and success stories of some well-known names including Oprah Winfrey, Jim Marshall, Tim Wilkins, Bill Gates, Steve Forbes Cheryl Richardson and others. The book is divided mainly into two sections the basic seven skills to build your foundation and further tips and techniques to apply for a bright future in business and life.
The section of resume and interview preparation is very good in content. Recent graduates and job hunters watch out for this section. The best part of the book is that Dawna has done a great job of translating her experience effectively into words in a simple and consistent language. Instead of being very philosophical, the book explains some real world issues and their solution. The language is simple, consistent and easy to understand. Some of the success stories are well explained to clarify the point at hand. Dawna also has touched upon some social issues in work place like sexual discrimination. The only weakness I found was that the book sometimes become a little repetitive and stretches itself around the main point.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and should prove a helpful resource to head start my career next week.

Thanks,
Amit Deshpande

http://www.amit-deshpande.com