The Power of Saying No
Sheila Boysen-Rotelli, a Master Certified Career Coach, Recruiter, and Talent Development Leader is talking about the power of saying no, and how we can set better professional boundaries. Sheila is going to share some examples of how we can set clear boundaries at work and how saying no can be key to wellness and self-preservation.
Episode Highlights:
Sheila suggests defining your boundaries at work with clarity of purpose. Saying yes to everything is the lazy person's path and a strategic ‘No’ is the best way to maximize the value you deliver.
There are a lot of subtle and graceful ways where we can say ‘No’ without being a jerk. There's a whole spectrum of responses that lie between yes and no.
One of the ways to say ‘No’ would be that instead of you having feelings of insecurity with a ‘No’, be honest and acknowledge that you are not the most competent in that particular work and suggest another name who can do it more efficiently and ask if he/she can help out?
If your boss asks you to take extra responsibility, then try to pose some questions to her to understand exactly what she needs. By better understanding what your manager needs to achieve, you might be able to recommend a much simpler solution to the problem.
Sometimes you're asked to do something you can't manage and there may be a way to add value without taking on the weight of the entire project onto your shoulders.
3 Key Points:
Instead of saying no directly, you can work with graceful responses like we want to resist taking on a cumbersome project by getting a better understanding of why it's necessary and possibly suggesting alternative action plans. Additionally, we may want to contribute a smaller percentage of our time to a project instead of tackling 100% of it. Stick with your purpose to focus on what you're uniquely hired to do.
Sometimes there's an emergency, or something's on fire, or sometimes we need to earn a few points with someone who's asked a favor. In such situations where the request is a challenge and we've been trying to get our hands on it, in such scenarios use your judgment. Sometimes letting take us off purpose is the right thing to do, but this should be the exception and not the rule.
If you're being asked to take on something cumbersome and it would take you days to complete what they're asking for. Your response starts with recognizing that your time is a company asset. Let her know exactly how much of your time and attention this task would require and what might not get done as a consequence. Then ask her if she’d be open to exploring more efficient ways of getting similar results. So by asking those probing questions, you might be able to protect the investment of your time and energy while also delivering real value.
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