We all need to understand that we cannot be all things to all people. You need to know when the answer “no” is the right one. People who sign up for everything end up doing a poor job on everything as compared to only saying “yes” to the opportunities that you know in your heart you can make an impact on.

In business, like personal life, you need to choose where you spend your time. At Hotel AG, we know what we are good at and we also know what we are not good at. I get calls all the time for hotel projects that involve complicated scenarios that I know our chances of success is very limited. I have learned to gracefully say “no” to those opportunities and to recommend someone else that may be better suited for what the client needs. I have found that by doing this, you preserve the client’s trust in you versus talking on the project and then failing. When you fail, you lose the client’s trust and that will cost you business down the road.

I have seen in churches where the chairman on multiple committees is the same person. In most cases, all committees will do less than expected because of the leadership. Each committee needs individual attention that is not spread over multiple committees.

In business, you need to spread the authority around and let others learn how to lead. Many company leaders feel they need to have the control in every department and every aspect. These are the leaders that seldom succeed long term with their companies. A company must grow leaders within because there is always talent available other than you. Yes, there will be mistakes and yes, there will be errors, but people will learn what works and doesn’t work if they are given an opportunity.

It is said that many army generals believe that you can win the war without having to win every battle. You as a leader simply need to choose the battles you must win and focus your attention on those. When your children were young, you instinctively did this same thing. You cannot not always say “stop” or “no.” Sometimes you need to let the child learn and experience things, which is the only way they will understand.

So, choose the things and the projects that are most important to you and learn to say “no” to the others. You will have more peace, be more focused, and have more joy in your life. KT