Understanding The Power of "Yes" and "No"

Two of the most powerful phrases in business are “yes” and “no.” Understanding their power and when to use them will have a great influence on how you spend your time. Consider them like the gas and brake on a car, an understanding of both is vital for getting where you need to go. In a business context, some seasons will be more “yes” seasons and others will be “no” seasons, but how do you know the difference? In my experience in times of growth or when I was starting out, it was important to say yes as much as I could. These were opportunities, relationships and jobs that I needed to build my company. During this time of my career, I was pioneering, building and growing. This was more of a “yes” season. However, as we started to grow and establish our place in the market, we had to change gears and move from “growth” to “sustain.”  When we sought to sustain the growth we had built we had to say “no” for a season in order to develop the necessary systems, protocols and people and to successfully complete all the things we had said “yes” to.

There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:... A right time to search and another to count your losses,A right time to hold on and another to let go.

Ecc 3:1&6 MSG Tweet

What are you saying No to when you say Yes?

This concept seems straightforward, however there are implications that can often miss.  When we agree to something, consequentially we are saying no to another option to spending our time, money, or attention elsewhere. Let me give you some examples:

• When you say yes to multitasking, you are saying no to being attentive or focused on an individual task.
• When you say yes to that evening meeting, you are saying no to rest or family time.
• When you say yes to that email or text after hours you are saying no to communication boundaries.

One of the ways I have discovered to let my “yeses” and “no’s” serve me is to run them through my values matrix. Once you can identify your values and as a result, your priorities, “yes” and “no” serve my interests rather than becoming the driver of my life. My business is important to me but more so is my relationship with God, my wife and my children. The time-consuming nature of business (or even ministry) is that it will fill every area of life I allow it to. In this regard yes and no become like gates to protect what matters most.

Another way that my values and priorities bring order to my decisions is that they help me to become selective so that I can operate in my sweet spot. This is not a luxury I had when I started out. As a young entrepreneur I took any job that I could, I hustled and negotiated my way into the market.  However, as we grew, I started to identify the jobs we were good at, I understood our team better. I recognized the types of jobs that would be our most successful. It helped us to specialize. At that point we became more selective with the jobs we took. We found our sweet spot. Business often follows this type of pattern, a run season followed by a rest and preparation season.  Your yes and no will act like the brake and gas for your business.

As an application, if you are starting out as an entrepreneur can you recognize this as a yes season? I would highly encourage you to identify your values and priorities as an important grid that you see this season through. Are you in a sustain season? How long do you need to be here and what processes, people or systems do you need to build or empower. Our ability to recognize these seasons and rhythms makes us good leaders. On more than one occasion people have credited me with this ability, but in most cases I must pass the credit on the the Holy Spirit. My time with God has always been a priority for me and is the first “yes” of my day. In those times I have the best perspective of my life and it helps to know when to say yes and no. I know that God will do the same for you.