Breaking Bad News

More than a few times in my career I’ve had to break bad news to people. The project is getting shut down. The work isn’t meeting expectations. Facilities are tight and only going to get tighter. The list goes on.

I’ve seen a lot of talented and well-meaning leaders struggle to communicate effectively in these situations. It is tempting to fall back on the pantheon of defensive corporate-speak techniques to defray the emotional impact of bad news. Here are a few such tactics you’ve probably seen before or even used yourself:

I understand the instinct to approach bad news like this. No one likes to be the bearer of bad news. Selfishly, we fear the accompanying reaction and how it may impact our own emotions. And while that’s understandable it is ultimately self defeating. If you fail to show proper respect for the people you are talking to you might accidentally:

The bad news is almost always a smaller issue than what happens when you don’t take responsibility for it. That’s the worst possible outcome.

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