The Entrepreneur At Ease

Recently I was asked by three separate people for a potential donation to the same cause: Brain Cancer Research.  Two of these people are executives I may like to have join my team and being at ease about many facets of communication can be a way to make others want to be on your team.  Though Brain Cancer Research is a worthy cause, it is not one of my passions and therefore, I communicated that I understood the passion these friends had around this cause, included a message that I appreciate the invitation to join in that passion but also stated that I would not be donating money, given my personal passions. You may think, “why say anything” and I say that if you communicate effectively and with ease, you’ll stand out from the other people who didn’t bother to even acknowledge the invitation and they’ll remember you for the courtesy and for your obvious ease in communicating a “no”.

The Executive Entrepreneur should be at ease in all situations, even when their message is “no”.  As success follows you, so do the number of people trying to sell something to you or convince you to donate to a worthy cause.  Be sure you know your priorities and deliver any message with grace.  Besides saying “no” with grace, here are a few other areas you may want to become being at ease with so that people around you will want to join your team:

• Know when to say please.
• Know how to apologize.
• Know how to say thank you.
• Know when to pay a compliment.
• Get good at introducing other people.
• Remember names, it’s important!
• Keep your sense of humor about gaffes made by yourself.

As an Executive Entrepreneur, you must stand out from the crowd but your attitude must be genuine.  People can sense fakery and if that’s what you’re after, that’s what you’ll get.  Take a moment to think about how you might say “no” with grace this week but be at ease no matter what the circumstances.