Three Minute Leadership: “Yes, If” -An Alternative to “No”
To: the Great Leaders Who Have a Passion for Continuous Learning
A friend recently shared with me an article from Knowledge@Wharton, MasterCard’s Ajay Banga: Why ‘Yes, If’ Is More Powerful Than Saying No. It is a powerful and profound leadership lesson from Ajay Banga, President and CEO of MasterCard.
Banga credited one of the most important leadership lessons he has learned not to someone at Citigroup, but to the managing director of Nestle India, where Banga started his career as a young management trainee. The director, he said, would never take “no” as an acceptable answer. One had to rephrase it to “Yes, if…” and describe what kind of support they needed to get the job done. “You can change the entire feel and look of a company by making people realize that they’re not empowered to say no,” Banga noted. “They’re empowered to say “yes, if.” It changes the bureaucracy, the culture, the passion, the purpose — it changes everything.”
What a magnificent mindset shift happens when “Yes, if….” Is the chosen response. We are freed of our self-imposed limitations as we now must focus on finding an alternative. The mind shifts to the world of the possible. We think of what can be and the how. Think of the changes this can bring to our professional and personal life, our family, our community. Help others to take ‘no’ out of their vocabulary. As Banga says: “It (“Yes, if….) changes everything.”
Have a beautiful day and a magnificent week!!!
Mike
- Three Minute Leadership – Leader as Mentor
- Three Minute Leadership: A Tribute to Warren Bennis, “The Father of Leadership”