职场"好人"不易做（1）

Creative, talented, brilliant. You would be thrilled if your boss used any of these words to describe you. But how about nice? Consider it for a moment: When asked to come up a definitive description of your capabilities, your manager says, "She's very nice." True, there are far worse labels, but if someone used that description of you following a first date, there might not be a second one.

富有创造力、才华横溢、聪明绝顶。如果老板用这些词来形容你，你肯定会振奋不已。如果是说你“人好”呢? 稍稍想象一下：当你的经理被要求对你的能力做一个确切的评价时，他/她说：“她人挺好的。”的确，比这糟糕的评价还有很多，但是当你第一次约会时，如果对方用“人很好”来形容你，那也许就不会有第二次约会了。

It's not that a pleasant demeanor isn't a valuable trait on the job. After all, people want to work with individuals who are tactful, responsive and quick to offer a helping hand.

不是说好性情在职场上没有价值。毕竟，人们都喜欢和那些体贴、响应积极、乐于助人的人一起工作。

The trouble with being too nice is that it often goes hand in hand with other traits, such as being too accommodating, unwilling to speak up for yourself, or hesitant to offer constructive criticism to your colleagues. Following are some tips to help you be nice and creative, talented and brilliant:

心肠太好的问题在于它往往还伴随着其它特征，比如太随和、不愿发表意见、或在建设性地批评同事时表现勉强。下面这些建议能让你在“人好”的同时又能“富有创造力、才华横溢、聪明绝顶”。

Set boundaries.

要有底线

People who are too nice rarely say no. However, there's a vast chasm between helping out in a pinch and being overly accommodating. If you accept every request, even when your plate is full, you risk being taken advantage of and can quickly burn out. The next time a colleague asks for your help and you're slammed with your own work, ask if you can lend a hand later, when you're less busy.

“人好”的人们很少说“不”。不过，必要时的帮助和过分的热心可是有着天壤之别的。如果你在自己手边事情一大堆的时候都有求必应，那么你就很可能被人利用，很快就会精力枯竭。下次如果一位同事要你帮忙，而你也有一大堆自己的工作，就告诉他/她等你不太忙的时候再帮忙。

(to be continued)