How to deliver bad news

One of the key tenets of Jim Collins’ Goodto Great was to ‘confront the brutal facts’ but it’s not always easy to be themessenger bringing the unwelcome news to a senior leader.

I was coaching a senior executive when herevealed to be that he felt that his boss – the CEO – was becoming frustratedwith him because he was always delivering bad news. My poor coachee just wantedto make his boss aware of the reality but it was seen as negativity.

Many leaders have succeeded because they are highlydriven and attached to the goals of the business (after all, they probablycreated them). This is often a key strength that these leaders bring to theteam but the other side of the coin can be that being told that there areproblems is not, shall we say, what they want to hear.

The emotion often comes from the CEOfeeling that the messenger is not ‘on side’ and is ‘part of the problem’ –however irrational that may appear.

However, the problem can also arise fromhow the news is shared. Instead of going straight to the problem, use thesimple 3Ws approach:

• W1: What are we trying to achieve? Startby reinforcing the goal and your commitment to it
• W2: Where are we now? This is where the problem is shared but in a way thatpositions the problems as things getting in the team’s way of achieving itsgoal.
• W3: What could we do about it? Offer a number of possible solutions.

This approach gives the conversation astrategic, positive context with better outcomes for the business and for thepoor messenger!

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