Episode 317
Saying No to Say Yes: The Importance of Boundaries at Work
On this episode of The Traveling Introvert, we dive into the workplace worries people face, specifically those in leadership positions. Leaders shouldn't feel like they need to be an expert on everything, and how saying no and setting boundaries can lead to success. There's a common pressure to say yes to everything, but this can lead to a lack of time for deep work and potential failure. Personal productivity levels vary, and it's important to evaluate time availability before taking on unnecessary meetings and projects. Tune in to hear more about why saying no can be the key to becoming a successful leader.
Topic: Pressure to be an expert and compete with co-workers
- Discouraging the need to be an expert on everything
- Advice to not compete with co-workers
- Leaders should not be the only expert in a team
Topic: Importance of setting boundaries
- Saying yes to everything can lead to overwhelm and low quality work
- Preventing burnout by setting boundaries
- Evaluating time availability before saying yes to projects
Topic: Success and productivity are personal
- Personal productivity levels vary from person to person
- Success and productivity are subjective and not necessary to compete with peers
- Discouraging learning something just to appear knowledgeable
Topic: Newcomers and saying yes
- Newcomers may feel pressure to say yes to everything to compete with peers
- Saying yes can show teamwork, but can lead to failure
- Involvement in unnecessary meetings and projects can lead to more of them
Topic: Advice for leaders
- Leaders should not be overwhelmed by being the only one everyone goes to for guidance
- Leaders are there to support others in the team
- Leaders should not feel pressured to always speak first or be the hub of the team
Transcript
Hello, and welcome to the traveling Introvert.
Speaker:Today I want to talk about things
Speaker:that come up on a regular basis with people that I talk to,
Speaker:things they worry about as far as work is concerned, and especially
Speaker:leaders. So here's
Speaker:the thing. A lot of the time it's really good
Speaker:for you to say no.
Speaker:It helps set boundaries. It helps
Speaker:set you up for success rather than failure. If you say yes to
Speaker:everything, you will have time for nothing.
Speaker:Especially if you're a new leader or new in a role.
Speaker:You might feel the pressure or the urgency to say yes
Speaker:to everything. All the meetings, all the projects that
Speaker:got thrown your way, all the questions.
Speaker:You might feel that saying yes is the
Speaker:best way to show that you are a team player or
Speaker:the best way to show that you are engaged or how
Speaker:happy you are at the role and how grateful you
Speaker:are to be having a job in the first place.
Speaker:However, here's the thing.
Speaker:If as a new person to the role or
Speaker:new to the job or new to the organization,
Speaker:if you say yes to everything,
Speaker:you are setting yourself up for failure by
Speaker:saying yes to all the meetings. You will not have time
Speaker:to process, you will not have time to do deep work.
Speaker:You will be involved in meetings that maybe you
Speaker:don't need to know about, which will then pull you into more
Speaker:meetings and more projects. If you say yes to all the projects
Speaker:without taking a look at the data and seeing how much time you have,
Speaker:how much time you are currently devoting to projects and how much time you have
Speaker:to process and be you and give
Speaker:your best at work. And then say yes to everything without first
Speaker:checking to see if you have the bandwidth to do
Speaker:it. You are setting yourself up for overwhelm
Speaker:and not being able to hit those targets or do those projects in a way
Speaker:that is good for you and that is quality work.
Speaker:And why this is bad long term is because
Speaker:you'll already be overwhelmed, you'll already be burnt out, you'll already
Speaker:be pushed to the edge. And when a project actually comes around that
Speaker:would be good for you to work on, that would give you what you need
Speaker:to move your career forward, you will not be able to
Speaker:take on that project. You might not even be offered that project
Speaker:because you already have too much on your plate.
Speaker:So saying yes to everything and no to nothing is
Speaker:bad. Boundary setting sets bad expectations and
Speaker:sets you up for failure. And the other reason you might
Speaker:think that you have to say yes to everything when you're new at a
Speaker:role or new in leadership is because you might
Speaker:want to compete with your peers. You might feel that everyone
Speaker:else is doing more than you and therefore you have to
Speaker:keep up everyone's levels are different.
Speaker:Everyone's ideas of productivity or doing well or
Speaker:success are different and personal.
Speaker:You cannot do everything. You shouldn't
Speaker:be competing with your peers. And there's
Speaker:the other thing. You can't be the expert
Speaker:for everything, on everything. I get so
Speaker:many people who want to learn a new thing because
Speaker:they like learning, which is great, but also because, well, then I can talk about
Speaker:it or then I'll know when it's good or right or wrong.
Speaker:But you cannot be the expert on everything. You should
Speaker:not be the Holy Grail as a leader that everyone comes to.
Speaker:There should be other people in your team who are experts in things. You should
Speaker:not be the guru, the hub,
Speaker:that everyone comes to, the business and the organization
Speaker:and the team should be able to run without you. You are there to support
Speaker:others, not to be that one person that everyone
Speaker:goes to, because you will be overwhelmed. You will
Speaker:not be able to say no, and you will be forever learning things that
Speaker:may or may not be good for your skill set or that you even enjoy.
Speaker:So why do that? And do not feel that you have to
Speaker:be the first to speak up at every meeting.
Speaker:Do not feel that pressure. You know as an introvert that you need
Speaker:to sit and process, so do so being the
Speaker:first to speak, speak up. Great if it's something useful
Speaker:to say or has been thought through, but not always. Don't give
Speaker:in to that pressure. So things that you shouldn't care about at
Speaker:work when you say no,
Speaker:being the expert for everything, competing with your peers,
Speaker:and being the first to speak up. This is
Speaker:Janice at the Career Introvert, helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a
