Was Durocher Right?

So what he said was "nice guys finish last."

I want to go at this a couple of different ways. One about some not so nice guys I have observed in my career, and one the more personal, because although I am sometimes "not nice," I think I am mostly a "nice guy."

There are three men I am thinking of who I would have to categorize in the "not nice" group. The general description would be something like "savage political infighters who seem to primarily seek their own advantage disregarding any negative impact on the company they work for or the people they work with."

One was a colleague in a place where I worked. He joined the company sometime after I did in a senior role in the same functional area I worked in. I put some effort into building a relationship but found him trying to sabotage my relationships with my client, blocking my access to information and resources, and disparaging my work to colleagues, and lying about it when I asked him about it. Could it be only me? Maybe, but one of the things I did with him was to take him on a float fishing. My guide's comment later was that he thought the guy was a "creep."

He was actually fired just before I left the company. But here's the thing. He had a job within weeks. In fact his resume is a list of positions seldom held more than three years, with some evidence of progressive advancement. As near as I can tell his LinkedIn profile for the time he was at the company where I met him is at least an exaggeration if not an outright fiction.

The other two I didn't know as well, but observing them I can see the same pattern--short stays with various companies, increasing responsibility with each move, and not much gap between employments. How do these guys get jobs? I suspect they lie, and then move on when caught or it doesn't work out, but each time they seem to parley great deals.

Personally I can't do that. I can't inflate the picture I sell of myself. Mostly I don't think anyone is a good as the blowhards seem to think they are, and I'd rather under-promise and over-deliver. Have I cost myself some money and opportunity? Am I too compliant? Too honest? Watching scoundrels make out while you feel like you have to struggle might tend you to thinking like that.

But I'm hardly "finishing last." I may not be wealthy, and we may be facing some belt-tightening as we age, but I think we'll be okay; and if we are not in the 1%, my guess is that we are in the 15% or 20%.

Maybe it is that nice guys just don't finish first because they are not willing to pay the price in integrity.