Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban advocates that a positive attitude and smile can give young professionals the competitive edge they need as AI reshapes employment and 58% of college graduates struggle to find work.

“This tip is really, really simple. It costs nothing, takes no time, and it’s really easy to do,” Cuban said in a 2023 TikTok video filmed during a break from the business reality television series Shark Tank, according to a Fortune report. “Be nice. Smile. Because smiling takes nothing. And we’d all rather do business with somebody who smiles.”

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Cuban reflected on his personal transformation in a 2018 Vanity Fair interview: “I wouldn’t have wanted to do business with me when I was in my twenties. I had to change. And it really paid off. One of the most underrated skills in business right now is being nice. Nice sells.”

According to reports, high-performing leaders, including Amazon.com Inc. AMZN CEO Andy Jassy, Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO U.K. chief Sarah Walker, and former PepsiCo Inc. PEP CEO Indra Nooyi have emphasized positivity’s value for career success.

Cuban emphasizes continuous learning as success cornerstone. “By putting in the effort, I taught myself technology. I taught myself to program,” Cuban told Men’s Health. “That investment in myself has paid dividends for the rest of my life.”

“Most people don’t put in the time to keep up and learn. And that’s always given me a competitive advantage,” Cuban explained, noting that recognizing learning as a skill enables competing against others.

Cuban’s advice comes as businesses replace workers and slash entry-level opportunities, creating a Gen Z employment crisis. The billionaire previously challenged Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei‘s AI job displacement warnings, arguing that “new companies with new jobs will come from AI.”

Cuban has consistently advocated AI adoption, advising young people to “spend every waking minute learning about AI” and comparing its impact to early personal computers.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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