Transform the Organization

How to Handle Rejection as the Boss

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women-business-rejectionEvery boss has experienced rejection from their employees. Today, younger employees are more vocal and dismissive about what they will and won’t do. Older employees will question and rebuff the decisions made by their younger bosses.

More so than ever, learning how to handle rejection is critical for a boss’s success.

If the fear of rejection is getting in your way, you’re not alone. It takes courage, communication, and the right coach to work through your fear and experience of rejection.

Your future success requires you to do so quickly or you will derail your career.

Overcoming the Fear of Rejection

Don’t Take “No” Personally. If team members are not accepting or not getting assignments done, it’s not personal. Use a qualified job fit tool to determine why. The assessment will clarify the person’s strengths and interests. Now, you can assign projects based on their strengths.  For example, if you need numbers crunched, ask the team member with the financial skills and interest to get the job done.

Get Over the Need to be Well-Liked. Most bosses want to be well-liked. But, remember being well-liked does not make you a better boss. Instead of wanting to be well-liked, focus on gaining respect. Give all team members the chance to shine and stop giving the best assignments to the team members you like.

Make Your Requests Positive. When you fear the word, “no,” your words and gestures will convey your fears. Move past this fear by having every request include how it will benefit the person, your boss, and/or team.  For example, “Joe, our team needs this projection for our next meeting. It will get us all on the same page. Can you help us?”

Seek Out “No’s.”  To get comfortable hearing this two-letter word, seek it out. Make requests of people daily who will normally say, “no.” For example, “Can you loan me a million dollars?” “Do you want to buy this product now?” Remember, “no” is not a personal rejection.

Develop Resilience. Embracing your fear of rejection will help you develop resilience. Hire the right coach to talk you through how to make requests, shake off past experiences, work with difficult employees, and embrace rejection. It will make you a better boss.

To be a great boss, learn how to handle rejection as a normal part of being a boss. Your career will thank you.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

For the past 26 years, Jeannette Seibly has been recognized as a catalyst and leadership expert. She has helped 100s of millennial bosses create more fun, money, and success when working through confusing situations. To develop your resilience, contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

Are you a millennial boss that wants to make a positive difference? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn about people, project, and productivity solutions. When you register, you will receive FREE “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”

Critical Thinking is the Most Important Business Skill to Teach

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Unfortunately, many people today rely on information posted on the internet and sound bites offered by thought leaders to make their decisions. They don’t engage in a healthy sense of skepticism and question the validity of what they are reading. And, often, they don’t consider how to use the information effectively in business today.

Bosses and leaders must focus on developing critical thinking. It’s one of the most important business skills required today for success.

Create a culture where it is considered productive to question ideas, people’s motives, and other information used to make good decisions. Critical thinking skills are required to build a strong, resilient, and agile workforce.

Develop Your People to Build Critical Thinking Skills

Engage in Brainstorming. The brainstorming process is priceless. It encourages everyone to share their ideas and learn from each other. It helps the team get beneath the surface of information and determine its validity. As a result, better decisions will be made to address the current issue, challenge or project.

Think and Talk Through the Process. Too often, your people operate as independent thinkers. They want to figure out the answers for themselves. But, relying on one person’s answer negates others’ contributions, slowing down the process. Often, it also fails to address critical components. Building a strong productive team requires trusting the process. Teach your team how to talk and think through a process as a group. It’s critical. Engaging everyone in the process encourages them to take responsibility for the results.

Encourage Curiosity. Being curious is a good thing. Addressing the why’s can create new ideas. Curiosity also uncovers the validity of assumptions. Train your team in the basics of finance, marketing, sales, people management, and operations. These basics encourage curiosity and provide a foundation to build on, reducing costly trial and error. When mistakes happen (and they will), it provides clarity for what to do next.

Share Your Decision-Making Process. Share the financial, marketing, sales, operations, and human elements that impact your decisions. Be open to talking through your teams’ questions. Set aside your ego and understand you may be wrong in your assumptions. Remember, building critical thinking skills is a process that occurs on a daily basis.

Ask Them to Take Part in Making Decisions. When you do this, you will gain insight into what they are thinking and how they arrive at their decisions. Now, you know what to focus on to build better outcomes for your company, systems, financials, employees, and customers. Remember, during this process, ask and answer why.

Build a culture that understands critical thinking is a process and required skill for today’s success. Start now to teach your team members how to become decision makers.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

For the past 26 years, Jeannette Seibly has been recognized as a catalyst and leadership expert. She has helped 1,000s of people create more fun, money, and inspiring results. To learn more about building a culture of critical thinking, contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

Are you a millennial boss wanting to make a positive difference? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn about people, project, and productivity solutions. When you register, you will receive FREE “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”