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Effective leaders have the ability to carve out space in the world for their ideas and commitments in such a way that the world actually shifts and changes around them. This week, the focus is on “Knowing When to Say When”. If you missed the beginning of my Tips for Aspiring Leaders series, you can go here to get caught up.
Knowing when to say when is sometimes the only difference between being a competent leader and being totally overwhelmed and ineffective! Speaking from personal experience, one of my weaknesses as a leader is having a habit of saying yes to too many things at once. This often leaves me struggling to fulfill my commitments or dropping out things that are really important to me (i.e. exercise, health, recreation) in order to keep my word.
Operating this way leaves me panicked and worried, which affects my energy level and my ability to stay focused on the tasks at hand. My productivity level goes down and my state of mind suffers, all of which affects my experience of myself as a leader, and my ability to carve out space in the world for my ideas and commitments.
The simple answer to this common leadership dilemma is to learn how to say no. The tricky part is learning when to say no. Why? Because part of expanding your capacity for leadership is constantly challenging yourself. Part of becoming a more effective and influential leader is constantly working to expand your game.
If you say no every time you’re confronted with a challenge, your leadership skills cease to expand. In order to become a more accomplished leader, you have to take risks now and then. You have to throw your hat over the wall and figure out how to expand your skills and effectiveness to win the game you started.
Learning when to say when requires a strategic view of things. You can’t be too conservative or you’ll become stagnant. You can’t be too reckless or you’ll bite off more than you can chew. You have be strategic about saying no.
Possibly related:
One of the strategies I use, is to tell the person I have to check my schedule and see if I can take it on. This gives me the opportunity to take the a few hours or a day to reflect, and see if this is something that will help with forward movement or just waste my time.