3 Tips for Earning Good Marks in Giving Bad News
When you make a mistake or encounter tough times, full disclosure is the best policy.
Winston Churchill once observed, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on.” That would have been a vast understatement had Churchill lived in the days of the Internet.
Sooner or later, your organization will run into a scenario that calls for managing a bad-news situation, whether it’s a defective product, a new service offering that flops, a layoff, a natural disaster that stops you in your tracks, or the tragic loss of a key executive. How the word travels online can make or break your reputation.
The volatility in the stock market and company earnings during the past few weeks, along with the pundits on TV, reminds me of the Chicken Little fable.
Just in case you’ve forgotten this classic, let me refresh you: One day, Chicken Little is walking in the woods when an acorn falls on her head.
“Oh, my goodness!” she says, “The sky is falling! I must go tell the king.” On the way to the palace, she meets Henny Penny going into the woods to hunt for berries. “Oh no, don’t go!” she says, “I was just there, and the sky was falling! Come with me to tell the king.”
So Henny Penny follows her.
They follow along until they meet Cocky Locky, who was going into the woods to hunt for seeds. “Oh no, don’t go!” says Chicken Little. “I was just there, and the sky was falling! Come with me to tell the king.”
So Cocky Locky follows her and Henny Penny.
They follow along until they meet Turkey Lurkey going into the woods to look for berries. Same drill.
Finally, they meet up with Foxy Woxy, who asks where they’re going. Same warning from the feathered friends. But instead of following Chicken Little, Foxy Woxy says,
“I know a shortcut to the palace.” Rather than the palace, he leads them to the entrance of the foxhole, where he plans to gobble them for dinner. Just as they are about to enter, the king’s hunting dogs rush up growling and howling. They chase the fox away and save Chicken Little and her other fine-feathered friends. The smart king gives her an umbrella to carry for future walks in the woods.
So what’s the moral of this fable? Consider the credibility gap, the next time Chicken Little warns colleagues about impending danger.
People shy away from those who jump to conclusions without checking the facts and who worry rather than weigh options.
Worry leads to poor judgment and hasty overreactions. Nor are people attracted to those who practice hand-wringing and preach doom and gloom. A message of despair goes against human nature and the need to hope for the best.
Mature optimism is a cornerstone of healthy living. So when you’re habitually communicating that “the sky is falling,” people draw the conclusion that you’re overwhelmed, unprepared, and incapable of dealing with situations. None of which leads to building your credibility.
That said, neither do people subscribe to the Emperor-Has-No-Clothes philosophy. When a serious situation develops, leaders do not resort to pep talks and platitudes, pretending that all is well. Leaders know that words shape thought. They provide healthy diets of hope while acknowledging a negative situation.
All change, personal or organizational, begins by seeing reality and then creating a vision to improve upon it.
So in the midst of bad news about your organization or its products, keep in mind these three guidelines:
1) ACKNOWLEDGE THE TRUTH
If sales are sinking, say so. If the latest model is a flop, acknowledge the problem and tell your customers you plan to fix it. If your team is performing poorly, own up to the numbers. If the organization looks lousy beside the competition, come clean about the market feedback.
Nothing opens people’s minds and raises their estimation of your credibility like admitting the truth, and nothing decreases your credibility like ignoring the obvious or blaming, demonizing, or scapegoating others. You understand how pathetic that makes politicians look if you’ve ever heard them try to explain away election results after a dramatic loss or listened to CEOs try to explain away poor earnings after failure to achieve their goals. Small people and organizations run from responsibility. Strong people shoulder it.
2) STOP SUGARCOATING THE UNKNOWN AND UNKNOWABLE
You’ve doubtless heard these classic rationalizations, which typically ring hollow:
Such are the assurances parents give their kids. You expect them and even appreciate them, at age thirteen. But to an adult hearing such platitudes from suppliers, partners, bosses, or colleagues who could not possibly know the future and how a situation will actually turn out, the remarks sound empty, if not insulting to our intelligence.
That’s not to say you can’t offer comforting words. You can and should.
But to be helpful and consoling, they should be the right words. Strive to get past the clichés and all-will-be-well platitudes to meaningful comments that comfort and help.
Leaders can acknowledge that they don’t have all the answers. Facebook is a particularly good platform for communicating in a personal, genuine and conversational way. Most important, they feel powerful enough to sustain people with their presence and their commitments to correct problems rather than empty promises of “all will be well.
3) FOCUS ON OPTIONS
In a negative situation, leaders focus others on positive alternatives and actions with the power of their words. If you’re communicating about tanking performance, the alternative may be to encourage employees to “stay the course” and help you change innovative strategies.
If you’re communicating to comfort employees after property destruction because of a weather-related disaster, you may encourage them to consider the future as you rebuild in another area.
If you’re announcing a layoff, in addition to communicating concern, you may focus them on the option of new training.
To increase your credibility in a bad-news situation, ditch an online down-in-the-mouth diatribe that finds its way around the globe before you get the facts or “get your pants on.”
Become a thought leader with helpful straight talk about the substantive issues.
