How to say no to your boss？

Dear Wendy,
My name is Jeff Xiong.  I am a senior manager working in a FMCG/IT company.  My career path has been quite smooth and lucky.  3 of my bosses in my career life has been my mentor in different ways.  Until last month, our organization went through a big re-org… aiya..

Now, I have two bosses and they don’t really like each other.  Headquarter has sent many more senior managers to China.  And I am often lost and not 100% sure what’s the right priority for work.  Worst of all, sometimes I feel like I am the only person really know what’s the right to do but my boss in Singapore and my local boss from BU “thinks they know the best!” 
I am not ambitious to find out how to make the “re-org” work.  I am just wondering if you can share some particle, hands-on ideas to help me “say no” sometimes to my boss when they really don’t have a clue of what’s right priority.  Thank you!

Dear Jeff,
Thank you for your request, I think this is a very common worry for mid-management.  Saying no to your boss is a tricky territory.  I understand that you don’t want to get back fired but also don’t want to waste your time doing the wrong stuff.. or you might get burn-out just trying to be a “YES” man!

Here are some of my advice
Since my job is not to tell you what you like to hear, I need to tell you everything that might work!
Since this might not be a 100% pleasant process, I am going to share my ideas from the ones that you want to hear the least to those you will enjoy the most.  Therefore, your experience might improve while you read my suggestions (like 倒吃甘蔗)

Say “Yes.”
Face it.  Sometimes you have to pick your battles and this time, you need to suck it up and do what is asked.  Even though you might believe it’s the best time or best way to get it done..
One day,  you will make the call for things like this when you are there..
Specify what is being asked to the finite detail and Say ”Yes” to that.
Clarify exact “what and/or when, and/or how” on your own terms before your boss think too much about it.  This way, you can postpone things that you really don’t think is important, or minimize the “audience” if you think the action doesn’t make sense or redirect the “specific action” towards something you believe in.
“no to the action”, but “yes to the goal”
Emphasize results: Use hard data to demonstrate how your saying "no" will advance your manager's agenda.
Sometimes you need to be clear on your desired outcome & Tie it to your boss' goals.  Then your boss will understand why is a "no" necessary? Most often, he/she will ignore the “no” just came out from your mouth..
“yes to the intention, no to the action!”
Agree with him/her intention to make this happen. And suggest something else that you think is more intelligent  No one likes to hear “no”  but if they feel like you are agreeing the intention, people losen up, and it’s easier to explore or accept the consequences of “no.”
Talk to his/her advisory board
Every boss has one or two people that has the permission to say almost anything.  Sometimes it’s his assistant or someone he usually chat with in the smoking room..
Take the time to find out who those people are.  Be nice to them.  Very nice.  Then, one, day, you might find yourself next to one of those people at the elevator, saying “Boy, I don’t understand why The Boss is making me do this by the end of the day.  If you’re lucky, the nice advisory board member, will say something like, “That’s strange..Hold on, let me see what I can do.”  Give it twenty minutes and you could be golden.
Agree early
Have a “honey moon” talk asap.  Take him/her out for a beer and agree early with your boss that it doesn't work if you are a "yes" person.  Clarify your value as help him/her screen out ideas before execution.   You are here to protect him/her and also get things done in the most efficient way.  It's easier to say "no" if you've defined expectations early in your tenure.
Create choices
Ask things like, "How will this help us attain your goal?" or "If I do this task, which other task do you want me not to do?"
“Say NO.”
Be courageous. Remember that few make it to senior management without saying "no."

No thanks!
Wendy

 

 

Wendy Wu,CEO of  New Leaders Group
Founder of 6 seconds China- world’s most authoritative EQ research and development instituteIn the past 10 years, she has been focusing on leadership development consulting, had helped world and nationally renowned companies with Succession Planning, Talent Audit & Management, Re-Organization Strategy, Evaluating Talent Investment solutions.Beginning in 2010, Ms. Wu periodically answer various questions raised by readers of Fortune China regarding their careers and life. We welcome any reader to contact us with their questions, our email is JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING . You can also log in on www.fortunechina.com and raise your questions.