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Saying No in 9 Ways

Sometimes saying no is a bad idea.  Sometimes it’s just necessary to protect your time to achieve priorities or just to stay sane.  Anyway, I thought this HBR Blog post had some useful insights:

Nine Practices to Help You Say No

by Peter Bregman

  1. Know your no.
  2. Be appreciative.
  3. Say no to the request, not the person.
  4. Explain why.
  5. Be as resolute as they are pushy.
  6. Practice. 
  7. Establish a pre-emptive no.
  8. Be prepared to miss out.
  9. Gather your courage.

Check out the full post:

http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2013/02/nine-practices-to-help-you-say.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29

I’d add that you also need to remember that sometimes it can be political or career suicide to say know to some people – like the boss. big donors, or powerful influencers.  In that case try discussing priorities and negotiate timeframes while acknowledging their ‘power position’ and avoiding passive aggressiveness.

Stephen

 

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Posted on: February 28, 2013, 7:14 am Category: Uncategorized

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