Bad news doesn’t age well

Photo by Giorgio Tomassetti on Unsplash

Sometimes we hide uncomfortable truths because we’re afraid what the response will be.

This actually makes things worse.

Know that you won’t hit a deadline?

Better to bring that up weeks or months in advance while you still have time to adjust as opposed to waiting until the last minute.

Struggling with a work assignment?

Better to ask for help soon as opposed to spinning your wheels trying to figure it out yourself.

“Bad news” is never fun to share, but it needs to be heard.

As leaders, the best thing you can do is make it as safe and as easy as possible to bring these difficult topics up. For example:

• Praise and thank people openly and often for finding issues
• Be transparent yourself when expectations you’ve set have to shift
• Encourage others to challenge assumptions and offer dissenting opinions

Better to deal with the uncomfortable now than have it bite you later.