Every "no" is an opportunity to say "yes" to what matters.
I would bet that in any given week you often face an overwhelming number of opportunities and demands. Many need a “yes.” What about when the answer is "no"?
Let’s be honest. Saying the actual word “no” is probably not something you can say to your CEO or your leader. It’s vital to approach these moments with tact, professionalism, and a mindset of being solutions oriented.
Story time.
A leader I coached was the proverbial “rock star.” Saying “yes” to new opportunities, even ones that were outside of his impressive skill set. He thought saying “yes” all the time would show his value and create numerous opportunities… and mostly it did.
And sometimes… he would work long, grueling hours, juggling various projects for weeks and sometimes months until “almost” burning out. At that point, his productivity would drop and his overall effectiveness as a leader suffered.
These items even came up in 360 feedback and his review. OUCH.
Knowing something had to change, we worked on a few options and approaches that may work for you too.
- Be open and curious. Ask more questions. “What is driving this timeline? How will this impact the client? Before I commit, what resources will I have at my disposal? Etc.”
- If the ask is outside of your strengths or expertise, and it’s not a “hell yes I want to do that” then emphasize how your skills can be best utilized for the greatest impact.
- Use those problem-solving leadership abilities and offer an alternative option, timeline, or approach. Collaborate.
- Discuss current priorities, team impact, and other risk factors. If you want to say “yes” to this new thing/project/opportunity, what will you say “no” to instead?
Using these tools and saying “no” from time to time, he was able to make a greater impact working on projects he was passionate about.
Then an odd thing happened… Because of his results, more people wanted his team involved on the projects he cared about. The stuff that he didn’t want to work on, mostly faded away. Mostly.
Saying “yes” to the RIGHT opportunities is huge (see Tuesday’s post on Saying Yes). When you master the art of saying "no," you reclaim your time, focus, and energy.
There is value in setting boundaries and saying "no" strategically.
Learn this power.
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