In this new era of openness, the ticket to a winning company, a winning portfolio, and yes, even a winning personal relationship, starts with being nice. I’ve spent the past two years examining companies big and small, and one thing plays out, over and over again: Being nice is more profitable than being a shark, and in the end, being a shark will actually cost you money, and over time, your business.

This isn’t simply a US trend, either. More people are connected via mobile networks overseas than in America, and the US is just catching up. Within seconds of a company “dissing” a customer overseas, the information is captured, posted, and shared to networks around the globe. On the global stage, being nice wins customers and new business as well.

<p .="" _mce_style="\" a="\" ability="" about="\" all="" anacott="\" and="" are="\" as="" at="\" be="" because="\" being="" bigger="\" bitstream="" blue="\" brand="" bring="" but="\" by="" ceo="\" check-in="\" companies="" create="\" customer="\" customer.="\" customers="" em="" employee="\" employees="" empower="" every="\" extra="\" firm="\" first="\" font-family:="" font-size:="" for="\" from="\" genuine="\" getting="\" goes="\" going="\" gordon="\" got="\" guess="\" have="\" horseshoe="\" huge="\" in="" is="\" it="" it.="\" learn="" line-height:="" ll="" loves="\" loyal="" magical="\" message="" moments="\" more="" network="\" never="\" new="" nice="" of="\" on.="" only="\" p="" percentage="\" pr="\" pr.="\" responsible="\" s="\" see="" simple="\" smile="\" so="" something="\" spreading.="" starts="" style="\\\\" color:"="" sure="\" teach="\" tell="\" the="" their="" those="" time="\" times="" to="" up="\" who="\" will="" with="" you="\" your="\">The call to the enlightened CEO is this: The old “kill your young” way of doing business is over. Without joining this new movement of “nice,” your business will simply fade away. More than ever, consumers have the ability to choose with whom they want to do business. And with those choices being made more and more from the recommendations of those within our personal network, the chances of maintaining the old school “they’ll get it the way we like it” mentality and still keeping your customers is growing slimmer by the day.