My Answer is NO...If That's Okay with You by Nanette Gartrell MD

Author:Nanette Gartrell, MD
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2008-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

chapter seven

saying NO when the president calls

(saying NO in public service)

As the wife of a former president, I can’t think of a time I’ve ever said NO to something important. I’ve lived in thirty homes in seventeen years following my husband’s political career. It’s a life I chose, and I choose to like life.

Barbara Bush, former First Lady

In government service, most decisions you make are open to public scrutiny. When your NOs have local or global ramifications, you expect to be accountable for each and every one. Today’s NO could be tomorrow’s headline. Tomorrow’s NO could save lives or affect the well-being of thousands of individuals.

So how do women handle the challenges of saying NO in public service? Do they set limits differently than their male counterparts? Can women in government service say NO to superiors? Do women question policies or defy directives that they think are wrong? How do highly visible women maintain any semblance of privacy?

Women in public service are wise to consider the pros and cons of every NO. They realize that their choices will be measured on a yardstick that’s calibrated specifically for women leaders: Is the NO compassionate or cutthroat? Accommodating or hard-nosed? Is it derived through consensus or conflict? Will the NO be admired or resented?

I interviewed nine prominent women about saying NO in government service. These women talked about learning to say NO and what saying NO means to them. They addressed moral dilemmas on the job and why it’s important to be accessible to constituents, even though they can’t possibly accommodate every request. And several women described their determination to achieve specific objectives, even when people tried to throw them off course.

pushing the limits

Most women in public service start their climb up the career ladder at or near the bottom rung. But for many years, women aiming for the top were told to give up the idea of becoming a leader because “it was a man’s world.”

Susan P. Kennedy, Governor Schwarzenegger’s Chief of Staff, and HIV/AIDS activist Mary Fisher began their government service by breaking the gender barrier. Before they could issue any official NOs, they had to vault over the NOs that blocked their way.

When Kennedy was shut out of tactical meetings during a political campaign, she turned up day after day until the men in charge finally opened the door.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.