The Cost of Saying Yes: Why Leadership Requires Aligned Boundaries

I used to think saying yes made me valuable.

Yes to the extra project. Yes to the late-night email. Yes to the request that came five minutes before I was supposed to walk out the door. Each yes was a way of proving I was dependable, capable, the kind of leader who could carry anything. And for a while, it worked. I was praised for being calm under pressure, for always coming through, for never wavering.