--- description: It’s not so much what you do but rather what you don’t do that matters title: A Successful Leader Has to Learn to Say No image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41b2133822e87cf1/698859860a4a2212fb9c5019/side-view-hand-saying-no.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Psychology](/tag/psychology/) ## Psychology Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Successful Leader Has to Learn to Say No by [Shane Parrish](/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 6, 2015 11:00 AM CUT  Hand Saying Stop Hand Saying StopGetty Images by [Shane Parrish](/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 6, 2015 11:00 AM CUT “The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It’s very easy to say yes.” — Tony Blair Tony Blair isn’t the only one who thinks that. So does [Steve Jobs](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2011/09/steve-jobs-the-focus-to-say-no/ "undefined") and [Warren Buffett](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/11/eight-ways-to-say-no/ "undefined"). Focus is everything. One of the clearest signs of poor leadership is the inability to focus — it’s easy to say yes and it’s very hard to say no. Seymour Schulich elaborates on this in [Get Smarter: Life and Business Lessons](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1552639428/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1552639428&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=7Y2JR2FA5SAFLGWB "undefined"): --- > “” --- It’s not so much what you do but rather what you don’t do that matters. **_Follow your curiosity_** _to_ [_eight ways to say no with grace and style_](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/11/eight-ways-to-say-no/ "undefined")_._ **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/05/say-no/ "undefined")**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/ "undefined")**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3944852/successful-leader-say-no/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3944852/successful-leader-say-no/"},"headline":"A Successful Leader Has to Learn to Say No","datePublished":"2015-07-06T11:00:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:34:03.106Z","description":"It’s not so much what you do but rather what you don’t do that matters","url":"https://time.com/3944852/successful-leader-say-no/","keywords":["Psychology","Business topic","Leadership","career"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41b2133822e87cf1/698859860a4a2212fb9c5019/side-view-hand-saying-no.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41b2133822e87cf1/698859860a4a2212fb9c5019/side-view-hand-saying-no.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"side-view-hand-saying-no","caption":"side-view-hand-saying-no","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3944852/successful-leader-say-no/","name":"A Successful Leader Has to Learn to Say No"}}]}] ```