A brilliant CFO client of mine told me last week that she loved The Power of No chapter of my first book Thoughtfully Ruthless because it reminded her how easy it was to apply the guidance in her whole life, not just her work life. It prompted me to give away the short version here today.
In my work and research, I have found that too many executives shy away from the word NO, even though it wields infinite power.
The first trick is to know what kind of no you want to say.
Ask yourself what you are trying to say?
Or
That makes it easier.
Then you need a specific script, especially if no is not a regular part of your vocabulary. That’s where 30 shortcuts come in handy.
Back when gathering in real life was allowed, I was speaking to a group of executives at Google’s Headquarters a few years ago, and I asked them what was the greatest barrier to accelerating their growth and they said “We say yes far too often.” That can be typical for a company in high growth, when there are endless ideas for breakthrough technology, radical new ideas, or disruptive ideas for your customers. But that is the very precise time you have to know how to say no. I let the Google executives know that The Power of No chapter could help and I immediately lost my audience. No one was paying attention as they were all flipping through my book in front of them. “Page 64 is perfect!” one of them shouted, and they all flipped to it. “This is just what we need, the precise words to help us say no.”
You can download the Thirty Ways to Say No here for the full phrases of exactly what to say.
Then I suggested you try this: track how many things you say no to over the next five days and note how much time and energy you save, I’d love to hear!
Enjoy practicing saying NO right when you need to.
To your 2021 year of Rapid Growth!
Dedicated to growing your business,
Val
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