Learn to Say No

By learning to say “No” we empower ourselves to make decisions we want, not what we are forced into by compromise.

“No” is one of the most powerful words in the English language but many of us in management or leadership positions shy away from using it for various reasons.

Saying “YES” is easy, as we have an inbuilt emotional response to comply, and by complying we follow the herd not lead it. The term “YES MAN” is a good example of this. The “YES MAN” says “yes” to everything and everybody thinking that he is a team player, one of the gang, being positive and moving onwards and upwards.

But this is a fallacy. Saying yes to everything means you have time for nothing, how can you attend every board meeting, every conference, every event that comes along. You can’t, and by doing so you loose your most valuable commodity – time.

Learn to prioritize what needs to be done.You need to set boundaries and be assertive, setting boundarys and saying “NO” to tasks and activities in your business or social life that do not advance you personally or professionally can be hard.

Doubt creeps in, you think “perhaps I shall just go along with it” when deep down you saying “hell no, get me out of here” When you learn to say no to the things that don’t help you or your business you are in fact saying “YES” to the things that do.

One of the reasons we say yes is because we want to be liked and admired, but we need to say No! We are not in business for popularity!

By saying No you empower yourself, saying no, opens up opportunities that you may not even know exist. Never do anything deep down you really do not want to do.

Sometimes business requires tough decisions, our emotional responses kick in and we are swayed by what we think we should say rather than what we need to say – NO