Stephen R Covey in his book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” (a highly recommended read), has an interesting take on the saying “the best is the enemy of the good”, the subject of a previous post.
In the context of the advice to “put first things first” and saying no to people in certain circumstances, Covey said that saying yes to something good can keep you from doing what is best.
“Even when the urgent is good, the good can keep you form your best, keep you from your unique contribution, if you let it.”
Good leaders don’t have a permanent open door policy; there isn’t time to get everything done so there will be times, perhaps many, where you will need to say firm, but polite, no.
