How to Say “No” – and Leave the Door Open for a Down-the-Road “Yes”

Open Doors

It happens all the time with work; the job offer, the investment opportunity, or the candidate you surfaced are great but the timing is wrong. So how do you say “no” and leave the door open to return?

Here’s one thought on how to keep the door open rather than permanently shut when you reject someone.

It starts, by the way, by having a clear bead on where you are, and what you’re looking for.  … Read the rest

“No” – and Other Amazing Words of Power

The challenge when you’re running a company is to provide context; while short and sweet is great, most of the time it falls flat without some background when you’re laying out direction and mission.

CEO’s know most of the stuff in their heads. They live with the challenges, direction, obstacles, and enablers all the time. I’m sometimes surprised that CEO’s don’t set plates for those things at Thanksgiving as honored guests. … Read the rest

The Corner Office: Where the “Girls” Are

There was a 1960’s coming of age movie about four Midwestern guys titled “Where the Boys Are.” Funny and clever for its time, it was also laden with stereotypical models of life – including the roles of women and men – of that era.

If you squint (“Really hard,” some of my colleagues would suggest) there is a different plot playing out in the corporate world in the United States today.… Read the rest