Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to say yes when you can. We say
Speaker 1: no to a lot of things. Saying yes when you
Speaker 1: can buys a lot of goodwill and creates an environment
Speaker 1: where people are willing to take risks and explore. In
Speaker 1: any large organization, the default answer to anything new can
Speaker 1: quickly become no. Managers become worried about how things will
Speaker 1: be perceived or about setting a precedent. Before COVID, for example,
Speaker 1: a great many requests to work from home or work flexibly,
Speaker 1: we're automatically turned down because, well, what if everyone wanted
Speaker 1: to work from home? We now know that that would
Speaker 1: most likely be fine In many organizations, everyone worked from
Speaker 1: home for a year and things kept chugging along if
Speaker 1: folks have some level of self awareness. Hopefully this realization
Speaker 1: spawned some hard thinking about those automatic knows, namely, the
Speaker 1: catastrophizing doesn't serve anyone. We can say no when we
Speaker 1: have to, but yes is an option as well. Indeed,
Speaker 1: I once heard the advice that a real leader's job
Speaker 1: is to say yes as much as possible. The idea
Speaker 1: is that leadership isn't just about what you do. It's
Speaker 1: also about what you allow and the environment you create.
Speaker 1: When you have staff or volunteers who bring you ideas
Speaker 1: about things they want to make happen, and you generally
Speaker 1: say yes to these things, then people want to bring
Speaker 1: you more ideas. Your organization becomes more innovative. People become
Speaker 1: happier with their jobs when they feel like their ideas
Speaker 1: are taken seriously and they are given the runway to
Speaker 1: try things out. Not everything will work, of course, and
Speaker 1: you might know that as a leader, but some things will.
Speaker 1: So if something isn't terribly expensive or risky legally, then
Speaker 1: there's no real harm in giving it a whirl. So
Speaker 1: someone wants to work a different schedule, someone wants to
Speaker 1: start an employee volunteering group, someone wants to test a
Speaker 1: product in a totally different market. Why not saying yes
Speaker 1: when you can. It's not just for leaders, it's good
Speaker 1: counsel for parents too. It is painful to think about
Speaker 1: how often we as parents say no on a typical
Speaker 1: day to having pancakes for breakfast on a rushed morning,
Speaker 1: going back upstairs to get different shoes when a child
Speaker 1: is running late, or to having a second helping of
Speaker 1: noodles before any chicken or peas to reading one more
Speaker 1: book when it's already after bedtime. I imagine you have
Speaker 1: said no to all sorts of things this morning already,
Speaker 1: and to an extent that is appropriate, because part of
Speaker 1: parenting is setting boundaries, but part of parenting is also
Speaker 1: creating the space for our children to explore life and
Speaker 1: become their own people. So if no one is going
Speaker 1: to get hurt and it's not going to bust the bank,
Speaker 1: why not try flipping the automatic no script? So say
Speaker 1: yes when you can. To the bizarre outfit a child
Speaker 1: puts together, the weird combination of foods in the lunch bag,
Speaker 1: to the request to try archery or acts throwing, to
Speaker 1: the suggestion to camp out in your backyard, or even
Speaker 1: paint the playroom yellow. Instead of asking why, I think
Speaker 1: why not? And if there is no reason to say no,
Speaker 1: you could just say yes. You may be amazed at
Speaker 1: what people come up with, and you buy a lot
Speaker 1: of goodwill so that when you do need to say no,
Speaker 1: people are more likely to accept that you have a
Speaker 1: good reason as opposed to just generally being a downer
Speaker 1: about everything. So this week in your professional and personal life,
Speaker 1: try saying yes when you can. I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: how it goes. You can reach me at Laura at
Speaker 1: Laura Vanderkam. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: Podcast at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
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