The Conference Coach™

In recent weeks, I’ve seen a lot of actions around the office that have taken people outside of their comfort zones.  I’ve seen people take on a tremendous amount of work in order to keep Copper Conferencing on track.  And I’ve seen people make choices  that will eventually lead them to different conclusions perhaps they might not have reached were they to have staid their normal courses.   But by far the thing that I have seen most recently that, in my opinion, has been the most interesting and important is the courage taken to say “No.”

For many people, I think the very act of saying ‘No’ is difficult in many circumstances.  People avoid saying ‘No’ for lots of reasons.  They don’t want to disappoint.  They don’t want to appear difficult. They don’t have the facts to say yes.  They don’t want to be confrontational.  They would rather say yes than debate the issue.  They lack the courage.

Often saying ‘No’ takes courage — even when you know without a doubt that saying ‘No’ is not only the right answer but the best answer.  Sometimes saying ‘No’ makes you feel rather ill, guilty, or heartless.  But sometimes saying ‘No’ makes you feel relief, elation or accomplished.

I applaud those who have the courage to say ‘No’ when it’s the right answer even though it may make you feel a little queasy.  I applaud those who have the courage to say ‘No’ when they know it’s the right thing to do and when saying it makes you feel good.

Use caution with ‘No’ for once you’ve found you have the courage to use it, the right answer may be ‘Yes.’

Alycia Maier-Turner is the Director of Marketing for Copper Conferencing, a provider of top-quality audio conferencing and industry-leading web conferencing services.