Tweet

Quit Asking for Permission

Guest post by: Elizabeth Freedman

Article Overview: Asking permission ensures that your idea may never see the light of day. Quit asking for permission. Just go ahead, grab the bull by the horns, and do it.

Quit Asking for Permission

Want to help yourself and your career?

Quit asking for permission. Just go ahead, grab the bull by the horns, and do it. Far better to ask for forgiveness later than permission now. Here’s why:

Asking permission ensures that your idea may never see the light of day. Ideas need a chance to be tried out, to grow a little, even to fail before we really know whether they’re worth fighting for. When an idea is killed before it even gets outs the door, we miss an opportunity for potential innovation, creativity, and growth. And if your idea does fly – nobody will be complaining that you didn’t check in with the boss first. (This goes double for salary stuff: Instead of saying, “Would it be OK to talk about getting a raise?” Try: “I’d like to discuss my raise. When can we meet?”)

You reinforce a habit of not trusting your instincts. When we constantly ask others for the OK before we make a move, it can get in the way of us trusting our gut and being able to make decisions. Sure, there are times that you won’t be able to make a move or get something done without the buy-in from others, but there are plenty of opportunities to take initiative. (Not sure? Start with something small – see what happens when you try something with low risk, and grow from there.)

You’ll get to do more things that interest you. If you’re bored, dissatisfied at work, or don’t feel challenged, do something about it. Instead of waiting for the boss to give you more exciting work, take matters into your own hands and try something out – ideally, something that adds impact to your organization’s bottom line.

When I felt I had hit a wall at my fundraising job after college, I started up an initiative to plan fundraising events for the legal industry. Nobody asked me to do it – so I worked on this project after hours, on my own, and planned out the whole thing. True, I had a great boss who loved to encourage entrepreneurial thinking, but knowing that my idea would actually generate more funds for my organization is really what gave me the confidence to go for it and not worry about his reaction.

You lose your excuses. If you don’t ask permission, you don’t have anyone standing in your way, and then you have to do something. Think about it – how many times do we let “the boss would never let me” as an excuses to not have to take action?

Organizations would be wise to encourage less permission asking – instead of fearing that if they do allow their employees to be more entrepreneurial, that they’ll have a mess on their hands. Instead, run contests for the best new idea, encourage ‘grab the bull by the horns’ thinking, and give examples of how your people can take intelligent risks in the workplace. Start small, and when you get nervous that your employees are going to run off in 100 different directions, remind yourself that less permission-asking rewards initiative, encourages entrepreneurial thinking, and may actually produce some great work for you.

Related Articles
  Are You On The Verge Of Quitting
  Dads Working From Home presents question #10: When should I give up?
  Should you quit?
  Develop your talents even if bored
  Your Life and Business is an Echo
  The promiscuity paradox
  The Top 5 reasons that sales people quit.
  What Mistake Ends Your Hopes for Increasing Sales?
  Hey Online Business Upline -- I Quit!
  A Small Internet Business Could Enable You To Quit Your Job
  Never Quit: A Lesson from The Apprentice
  Moms Not Working
  Business Success -- When it's okay to quit
  Don't put me on your mailing list!
  Marketing and Selling
  B2B Strategy
  Are you a ground hog?
  Why People Do not Make Money With Their Home Based Businesses?
  The Importance of Permission
  Setting Goals -- The Fulfilling Way

Article Tags: career advice, entrepreneurial thinking, success



Related Forum Posts
Re: My 3 best business books - 1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 3. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin Think and Grow Rich seems more powerful each time I read it or dip into it. The 7 Habits not only offers some very effective ways to organize your life (which I have yet to master!), but also some great quotations and thought provoking statements including this by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl: [i:2naxzsom]Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.[/i:2naxzsom] Seth Godin's Permission Marketing is a good read for anybody seeking to understand how to approach doing business on the Internet in the right way with regard to winning people's trust.
Re: Hello From Marietta GA! - Hi Tim, Welcome to the forum! I see you are into martial arts and a Seth Godin fan. My favourite Seth book is "Permission Marketing". Which martial arts do you practise? David
Re: pitching - Friendliness is closely related to the concept of "permission marketing" as articulated by Seth Godin. The subtitle of his book says it all: "Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers." The old method was "interruption marketing" where you suddenly get an ad in your face whether you want it or not...
Re: What to do at the first roadblock? - Quit! JK. You need to make a serious decision about what you plan to do and if you can handle the competition. Personally, I like less competitive niches because it typically means success is slightly more guaranteed, as long as you are sure there is a demand. I would rather pick a niche and dominate it rather than rally it out with the big boys. For example, what if your idea is to start a new search engine? Unless you have some amazing revolutionary new idea, forget it. What about if you wanted to start an online social network just like facebook? Again, your idea won't go anywhere unless you have an amazing revolutionary idea or something.
Re: Don't Quit. - Thanks for the post Don't Quit is a great message even when the mother-in-law says "why don't you get a real job" The lonely entrepreneur sound like an interesting email or thought. Was never lonely at the beginning, to excited about the challenges and busy learning new things. but as time progressed, it can get boring looking at Forex charts, research and writing. Now my social business networking and forums easily remove any thoughts of loneliness. Now, sometimes look forward to some quiet times As to mastermind groups; perhaps when I grow up I will be invited - smiles


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Multilevel Marketing: 4 Tips To MLM Success

What Makes an Extraordinary Business Consultant?

What Aweber Can Do For Your Online Business

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.