Is it ok to tell my boss no?

Here is a very interesting question that I have been challenged to answer, is it ok to tell my boss no? The answer is not that straight forward and logically you may be thinking, what is the question being asked? The responses then must be contextual to the questions being asked.

Let us establish this point first and foremost, if you are reading this and you are in the armed forces, an officer of the law or any similar profession please read this with much caution. It is highly inadvisable to defy a direct order from a commanding officer, unless it is unlawful or immoral in nature. Other than that I don't have much to offer in that space.

For those of us in civilian positions the rest of today's post is for you. The advice mentioned above applies to you as well. It does not matter your level of experience, or how much money you make, you are by no means obligated to break any laws, rules or set of moral beliefs simply because your boss has requested. This should be an absolute with no gray area on the matter.

In other instances you may feel slighted or ill treated by your boss and a particular request may have gone too far in your eyes, you have every right to voice your concern. You are compelled to take into consideration that your boss is your boss and if you must raise any concerns it must be done in a respectful manner. You must also be prepared for things to remain the same. You are still obliged to speak up even though you are sure that nothing good will come out of it.

There are two general points that I would like to leave you with:

You cannot just say no because you feel like saying no. The right way is to ensure you have a valid reason or an alternative idea or recommendation to what is being requested. The assertion here is that it is possible that you have your own ideas to contribute and a good manager would be open to ideas that did not originate with him. It does not give you license to be combative and if you are in a position where you have to disagree with every request that comes in then you are probably working in the wrong place.

The second is that after reading this you can feel liberated in knowing that you don't have to say yes to every single request that comes in. It is OK for you to ask questions for clarification purposes and to speak up in disagreement if things are not clear or favorable.

Speaking up takes courage. If done effectively it should not be received as an act of defiance and hence the desired effect can be attained. Needless to say, working in an environment where the manager is not accustomed to individuals speaking up can lead to issues. There is no need to feel discouraged, this simply serves as a warning against being naive, because change does not come easy for every one.

So what is today's lesson? You have every right to speak up if needed. There is no law written or implied that states you are compelled in every situation to comply with your manager's request. If you find your self always in agreement and your manager's requests are legal, morally right and fall within the bounds of your company policies then you have nothing to be overly concerned about.

Until next time remember, As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.