Boundaries are hard to maintain.
Lines get blurred when team members are asked by others to take on more than they can handle, or the requests they receive don’t match the priorities or values they are expected to uphold.
Status, authority, and peer pressure often make it exceedingly difficult for team members to negate the influence others exert.
That’s where good leaders step in.Leaders are guardians of focus. They always operate in the best interest of those they lead.
So, good leaders go out of their way to say “No” for their team members, so they don’t have to.
They refuse to allow them to become a dumping ground for other leaders’ priorities, conflicting requests, or last-minute sprints to an arbitrary finish line.
When leaders say “No” for team members, they turn external pressure into focused work and choice.
Good leaders clarify what matters by running interference against anything that creates distraction.
By protecting team members from those requests they would prefer to turn down but don’t feel they can, leaders build trust and credibility. The protection they provide by saying “No” gets rewarded with higher productivity and loyalty.
When leaders fail to say “No” for others, team members get caught between loyalty to the organization and the need to stay focused on their highest priorities.
The result is that their priorities lose out.
There are many requests where only the leader can step in to protect the team. Leaders who don’t play this role leave team members exposed and less productive.
How often do you say “No” on behalf of others?
Good leaders pay attention to what team members are being asked to do and the pressures that might make them feel obligated to comply.
Deciding when to step in to protect them requires finesse, but the situations are usually obvious. In many cases, team members want you to say “No” for them but hesitate to ask, fearing it may feel awkward, wimpy, or insubordinate.
Good leaders protect those downstream from tasks, assignments, and invitations that threaten their ability to focus or distract them from the highest and best use of their time.
They know that allowing team members to accommodate requests that are not in their best interests encourages others to overreach and to treat them as instruments to be played.
Not every ask earns access to your team members. The best leaders absorb the pressure, so team members don’t break.
