5 Ways To Say No
My son’s birthday is exactly one week before Christmas. He’s turning 12 this year and is doing some serious negotiations on whether I can combine whatever I would spend on his birthday with what I would spend for a Christmas present to get a more expensive gift
He’s a little math whiz and is usually comes up with questions like “Well what if you spend 20% of the total on my birthday and 80% at Christmas?” At that point, I’m thinking “Huh???” 
That is when I use strategy #1 below on “5 Ways to Say No.”
Deferral: This is a good one for those who really have a hard time saying no. Instead of accepting on the spot, defer your commitment. “Sounds like an interesting initiative. Let me think about that and get back to you in a couple days.” This gives you some time to think things through or come up with some questions to ask to see if you truly want to take on the task.
Redirect: This allows you to say no AND make an offer at the same time. For example “That is an interesting project. I have a lot of my plate right now, but I may know someone who would be interested in taking that on. Let me get back to you on that.”
Admitted Limitation: This works when you are simply not the right person for the task. It is best to admit that up front rather than taking on something that causes you to feel overwhelmed later on. “Thanks for the opportunity but I would not be the best person for that task. Sara actually has more experience with that than I.”
Decline & Accept: This is where you can both accept and decline at the same time. Let’s say you are offered a task in a meeting. Rather than simply declining, you can offer to do a different task. “Rather than the mailings, I was actually quite interested in contributing a couple ideas to the newsletter.” Similarly, “I actually love to donate to charities during the holidays and I have two that I have committed to already, thanks for asking though.” (Notice I used the word “and” instead of “but” - it comes across more positively)
Prioritization Request: This is a good one for responding to requests from your manager. “That seems like a really interesting project. Could we go through the prioritization of things in our next meeting?”
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Allison Babb is author, speaker, trainer, and leadership coach who teaches leaders at all levels 3 secrets to becoming a top manager in their company. Allison has combined her degree in Business Administration, over 15 years of senior management experience and the art of professional coaching to deliver truly masterful leadership coaching and training to managers at all levels.
You are welcomed to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the contact information at the end), and you send me a copy or link to your reprint at allison@ExcellenceThroughCoaching.com. Thanks!
Tags: accepting, christmas present, combine, couple days, decline, defer, deferral, expensive gift, hard time, huh, initiative, math whiz, negotiations, sara, time to think, xmas
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