4 Reasons Why Leaders Must Learn To Say No

Saying no can be hard. Especially if you lead in a smaller organization where you may have more of a relationship with people who suggest or ask for things. However learning to say no is vital to leading healthy and growing teams, organizations, and churches. Here are four reasons why.

1) To keep things simple

The more you say yes to, the more complex things become. This can even be harder in the church world where saying "no" can come across like you don't care about a problem or don't want to help people. But the reality is, programs don't solve problems, people do. Whether you lead in a church or a business, your main goal is sticking to the plan or vision of what you are trying to accomplish.This means saying no to a lot of good things so you can say yes to the main things. In New City's case (where I lead), it means saying no to various service projects people want to do, or no to promoting various events or organizations our people may be involved in, or even declining that New City will partner with someone or something. When you have too much going on, people won't know what their next step is or what you really want them to be doing.

2) To keep things focused

Our mission at New City is to help people meet Jesus and grow in a relationship with him. We do that through a few focused ways. Weekend services, being part of a community group, serving at New City, financial generosity, and living on mission. Yes, we have other events and things we do, but those previously listed things are the only things we ask our partners at New City to commit too. There are many other great things we could ask our people to do, but that would lead to us losing our focus.This is especially hard in a smaller church or organization, as people often don't realize that when they suggest something to do, they aren't the only one who is suggesting things. Learning to say no when you are small is what makes it possible to say no as things grow.

3) To keep things moving

Every time you say yes, you, your team, and/or your organization must now devote time and possibly resources to this new endeavor. Certainly, there are times when you should say yes to a new idea or suggestion if it will help you better accomplish what you want to do. But every yes comes at a cost.This is why having a clear direction is so important. When you know where you are going, that becomes the filter through which you can say yes or no instead of making decisions based on emotion or any other factor.

4) To say yes to something better

Here's the reality; there will come along great ideas that you should and probably even need to implement. The problem is, if you have already said yes to many other good ideas, you can't implement the great ones. Or at the very least, you can't implement them in the ways you wish you could. If you and your team aren't excited and passionate about a new idea or suggestion, even if it is really good, you should be very cautious to say yes.Eventually, something you are passionate about will come along that you'll want to say yes to that will help you or your organizations focus and will help you move things forward. But it may take quite a few "no's" to get there.