It can be hard to say “no”. Especially if you’re young, ambitious and keen to impress. From the quote and what we know about the movie business I assume Helen Mirren is saying as a young women she was pressurised into doing things she didn’t feel comfortable or want to do. Hence her advice to her younger self.
Let me be clear I am not talking about sexual harassment I am referring to the experience of feeling under pressure to take on extra work or responsibility basically having your good will exploited. You know that being good at your job is not enough to get you promoted.
You have to get noticed, you have to be willing to take on extra responsibilities, to gain more experience. But if you’re being asked to do more, work longer hours but not being exposed to new experiences or learning new skills but simply having a bigger workload, then you’re being exploited.
At the time it may be easier to say yes but much much harder to get out of it once you have. If you always say yes to your manager but no to everyone else this will not make your life easier but harder. Don’t just say No explain why.
Don’t be someone who says no first and thinks about it latter. ( like some managers I have worked for) A terse or hasty no causes problems for everyone especially you . Think about the request don’t let your dislike off the individual, their lack of status or the fact you don’t have any capacity because you have already said yes to too many other things determine your response. Find out what’s involved, how much work , how complicated, how difficult ,how long will it take, how important to the person/organisation, will it involve getting the cooperation of others is there a tight deadline?
The constant flow of requests formal and informal mean it’s crucial to learn to say no and how to say both no and yes .If you become skilled at conveying both ,you can avoid burnout, increase your influence and enhance your reputation. Or, of course, you could just say ‘No!’
