Why You Need To Say No More Than Yes

There is a weapon of choice that is radically more effective than any other device for creating time and energy; it is one simple word, no. This word is not used enough, and when people try to use it, they often translate into fluffy, subjective, and confusing words and phrases, such as perhaps, not right now, and let me think about it. The word no is much more effective, and it should be used on a daily basis. This is the area where I see too many leaders being far too thoughtful when they need to be more ruthless and just say no.

I was speaking to a group of executives at Google’s Headquarters a couple of months ago, and I asked them what was the greatest barrier to accelerating their growth and they said “We say yes far too often.” It is typical when a company is 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 one of the chapters of my book Thoughtfully Ruthless: The Key to Exponential Growth, Wiley, April 2016, was called The Power of No 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.
 
Try this: track how many things you say no to over the next five days and note how much time and energy you save. 

Dedicated to growing your business,
 

Val

Is Your Health Or Your Results More Important?

Of course, in theory, everyone will say that their health is their number one priority, but too often executives can get distracted and put themselves too far down the priority list when delivering important launches, attending essential customer meetings, or presenting essential board updates.
 
I injured my back six weeks ago. Frustratingly I was simply picking up an empty plastic tote when I heard and felt my back pop.
 
Apart from the pain, my second thought was, how will I ever get back to full fitness in time to compete in the CrossFit Games?
 
With some brilliant chiropractic and coaching support, I was able to recover relatively fast, but I had to completely change my approach to the CrossFit games from thinking about how fast and strong I could go, to have a goal of staying safe, and not ruining my recovery. When there is a worldwide leaderboard of your scores for each workout, this becomes an exercise in mental toughness vs. physical toughness. CrossFit is the most adaptable form of exercise and even the CrossFit Games has scaled versions of every workout. It wasn’t easy to choose scaled, or to only attempt the workout once without going for a repeat try. But I had to keep reminding myself my goal was my health, not how high I could get on the worldwide leaderboard.
 
I ended up 8,766 out of 19,859 people in my age bracket. 55th percentile wasn’t bad, and I know I could have got placed higher, but at a big risk to injuring myself.
 
There will be more competitions, perhaps this is the voice of reason and older age coming through, but I have to protect my back, and my health for the long term, not sacrifice it for the immediate results in front of me.
 
What do you need to attend to today so your health stays your number one priority so you can remain healthy and ultimately stay around longer for those you love?
 
I share more about why prioritizing your Sleep, Nutrition and Exercise is essential in my book Thoughtfully Ruthless, you can download a sample chapter here.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

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How To Solve Your Decision Dilemma

Remember when you last made a major purchase, like a house or a car. Think back to how you made that decision. Did you research reviews and comparison shop for hours? Did you walk into the showroom or open house and say, “I will take that one” and decide immediately? Did you make a decision, but then talk to others and then update your decision in a different direction? Did you keep your decision quiet and make it on your own, or ask other people you trusted?
 
How you make decisions is unlikely to change, and you are unlikely to change the decision-making preference of your team, your boss, and your peers. The crucial step is understanding. That is where many leaders fail. I created the Decision Dilemma tool to remove the spin and uncertainty that can suck away hours of time and energy. You can download it for free here.
 
Plot yourself on the Decision Dilemma continuum, and then plot where you predict your boss is, along with the cultural norm of your division or company.
 
This is one of my most requested conversations to build into Galvanize Your Team executive workshops that I run. One executive team I am working with last month told me I saved them nine hours each and every week, and for the whole of the executive team of 11 people. That is 5,148 hours a year!
 
Successful leaders are ruthless not just with their own time but also with their team’s time. Regularly ask your team to share how you can help unlock decisions and remove roadblocks to faster decisions further down in your organization. Lead by example and create spontaneous decision points in which you encourage real-time gathering of the relevant people to make decisions that are time sensitive.
 
What are the top ten decision-making tenants in your organization?

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val