Nice is a relative thing. If you smile and are friendly, but don't support or help your people are you really nice? Similarly, if you aren't always cheerful, but you truly support and help your people to be the best they can be are you not nice?

The boss that is always cheery and have no suggestions for improvement is not a good boss. We are imperfect creatures. I know that comes as a shock to some, but the bible says we were created in God's image, not that we were created as other gods.

So, as good as we are there is room for improvement. If that is not brought out, how do we know and improve? Short answer, we don't. The good boss isn't nit picky. They are just trying to get us to be the best we can be. Not talking about shortcomings doesn't get us there.

There is a balance of compliments and constructive criticism. The good boss knows this and balances them both.