To be a successful leader your team must be comfortable in providing you with timely updates. Everyone is eager to provide the latest good news but how does your team handle bad news ?

My greatest teacher in this has been my daughter. We had just finished a bathroom renovation. One of my greatest concerns through the process, being an Engineer, was to properly size the exhaust fan so we wouldn’t get moisture buildup and mold. Measurements of the room, calculations of air changes and fan selection complete and I was confident we were ok although I was considering upsizing to the next fan. In the end there was no need to upsize and we completed the renovation.

A couple months later I noticed some spots on the ceiling! Not possible, I calculated everything. First step was to repaint the entire ceiling with stain reducing paint and the next was to look at ripping open the ceiling and putting in a larger fan – I knew it! Before I went too far my wife relayed a message from my teenaged daughter – the spots were from hair colouring and not mold. She was just worried to tell me because of the reaction.

At home, as at work, my reaction to someone “not following the plan” or “not having the necessary discipline” or “not working hard enough” was not always constructive. I still work at this. One of the first messages for my teams is that there is no good news or bad new. It is all information we need to provide on a timely basis so we can react. Whether at home or at work when presented with bad news – Listen and don’t jump to conclusions, share the pain, don’t say “I told you so”, watch your body language, absorb the information and then work together to a solution. Reacting in the wrong way will stop the flow of information and you may find yourself needlessly spending time, effort and money on the wrong solutions.