Deep Dive Series: The Power of The Upfront No
By Tana M. Mann Easton, Lead Efficiency Engineer
A podcast I frequently listen to is Worklife with Adam Grant. On the February 18, 2025 episode, Adam was talking to therapist Caroline Fleck. During their conversation, Caroline talked about needing limits in her profession in order to avoid burnout. She is often people’s go-to person when they are distressed, and many people want that close connection all the time. As a result, she receives emails and texts from her clients at all hours of the day. Caroline states she needs to be good at setting limits with people. If a client texts her late at night, she’ll let them know, “If you text me after 9pm, I’m not going to respond. And if you keep texting me after 9pm, I’m probably going to dislike you at some point.” She lets the person know upfront, before there’s a problem, responding to messages at all hours of the day is a no for her. She values communication with her client and doesn’t want it to end, so she steers them to the hours that are appropriate in order for them to have a mutually beneficial relationship. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If someone behaves in a manner that doesn’t work for you, an upfront no can block a mountain of negative consequences in the long run.
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Sincerely Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team