What Sassy magazine can teach us about leadership

Growing up, one of my favorite magazines was Sassy. This amazing ‘90s contribution to pop culture had a feminist perspective I didn’t find too many other places in my life, and valued the voice of teenage girls in a way that meant a lot to me, a teenage girl at the time. One section had reader poetry and quotes in it; one particular quote came back to me again and again in my CEO years: A decision is made when you choose to do nothing.

As leaders, we often think about what changes to implement, or when the timing is right. One question, inspired by Sassy is “What would happen if I did nothing?” The answer can crystalize the how urgent taking actions are and what the costs are of not acting. If the answer is “well, we’d keep doing This Thing in a slightly more costly and inefficient way”---that’s a lot different than “Morale would continue to fall”. Both may merit action, yet the answers themselves would inform next steps and timing in different ways.

Let me be clear: the goal of leadership is not to always say yes. Often, it’s saying “no”-- or “not yet” or “no” or “let’s think about this.” At one point, I had this quote from Tony Blair on the front of my notebook: 

As a leader, saying no was hard for me: I wanted to support my people! Encourage their ideas! Let innovation flourish! I quickly learned though, that often when you say yes to a lot of things, it can lead to confusing people about what’s really important and top priority--and lead to initiatives that are incongruous with each other as well as fatigue from changes. 

Saying yes has a cost. Saying no has a cost. As a leader, know what to say yes to changing---and when to say yes to that--can be helped by a 90 seconds thinking about “what would happen if we did nothing?” Better yet, ask that question of your team; they will point out perspectives you hadn’t considered and fill out the picture so that you can make the most-informed decision.

This is also a great question when people you manage are struggling with making decisions, or whether to do something. Once, one of my Rock Star direct reports was beating herself up about a few items on her “important but not urgent” list that weren’t getting done. I asked her to go through the items she wasn’t getting to, answering the question “What would happen if you did nothing?” Within five minutes, she had talked herself through the answers, and identified what really needed to be acted on immediately, and what was totally fine staying on the back burner. That question helped her talk herself down off a ledge and prioritize in the most impactful way as a senior leader.

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