“Mr. Jobs was focused on the importance of saying no, more often than he said yes,” recounts John Scully (pictured), who was Steve Jobs’ boss at Apple in the early 1990’s.
Yes, even Steve Jobs had bosses.
The importance of slowing down and saying NO and meaning NO has long been a theme of my writing. You can always say YES, later, and mean that too.
The problem is that we often say YES too quickly. For example, can you think of a time when you have said YES to taking on more responsibility at your job, only to regret it later? Employers – unenlightened employers – love employees who will say YES to anything. The conundrum is that it always comes back to bite us. We are overwhelmed and soon feel used, even though it was entirely our own fault for saying yes too quickly.
There is an art to saying no. It is called TACT. Employing tact in saying no is very much linked to your understanding of your mission. If your mission has been made clear (and if not, that is your fault and no one else’s), then you will know almost instantaneously whether an assigned task is mission critical, or a waste of your valuable time. In a perfect world, our bosses would approach us with a task and articulate precisely how it is linked to your mission. Saying yes, in a perfect world, is that easy. However, many times, even our superiors will not be able to succinctly connect the dots needed to make clear why the assigned task is even yours to begin with. Our job then becomes one of “pushing back” ever so gently, and saying NO.
- Ask for clarification on precisely how the task connects to your mission.
- Impress upon your superior the extent to which you understand your mission.
- Take the task on, but with specific understanding as to how it will benefit you and your mission.
It is as simple as that, and I guarantee that the enlightened employer will be impressed. Unenlightened employers won’t care and your time in his or her company is limited anyway, so why not practice saying no on his nickel in preparation for your next job?
