3. Don’t hide the truth.
So things aren’t going the way you want them to go.
It’s one thing to admit how things are going to yourself; it’s another thing to acknowledge it to others.
I still have to fight the instinct to keep bad news a secret. You know why I want to keep it a secret? Because I think it reflects poorly on me as a leader.
Ironically, being honest about bad news doesn’t make you a poor leader, it makes you a better one.
So who should you tell?
The right people, which is basically the people who are in a position to do something about the bad news.
Maybe it’s your staff, your key volunteers, your board … whoever. Tell them. Honestly.
You’ll have to fight the urge to bury the truth or shade it or spin it. Fight it with everything you’ve got. Everyone will be far better for it.
Just because you shouldn’t tell everybody doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell somebody. The right people need to know.
4. Unload the gun.
It’s tempting to want to shoot the messenger. Don’t.
You may have an emotional reaction. You’re human. Just don’t share that reaction with the person who told you.
Many leaders end up feeling lonely, isolated or misinformed because people are afraid to tell them what they don’t want to hear. This is exactly how that happens.
So instead of getting angry at them, thank them.
Similarly, when you share the information, avoid blame. Don’t shoot people or events or culture or whatever you’ll be tempted to shoot at something or someone to justify the bad news.
Take responsibility.
If you want to see what happens when you stop making excuses for bad news and start making progress, listen to Josh Gagnon’s story about how Next Level Church in New England has grown to 2,000 people in four locations in six years in a region famous for ignoring the Gospel. They refuse to make excuses, blame others or otherwise justify failure. It’s inspiring.
5. Decide on an action step as soon as possible.
Now that you’re out of the excuse business and the hiding business, it’s time for action.
One of the reasons bad news lingers as long as it does is because we take no action over it. Like a bad odour in your kitchen garbage, you can complain about it or you can simply take the trash to the garage.
The best thing you can do with bad news is to decide on an action step.
There’s always good information inside bad news.
Not growing? Diagnose the problem as quickly as you can (here, for example, are 10 reasons why churches don’t grow) and work to a solution.
Someone angry with you? Figure out why, own it, and walk into their office or pick up the phone and apologize.
Givings down? Stop complaining and devise a strategy.
The faster you decide to act, the faster your mood will change.
Knowing about a problem is entirely different than solving a problem. Even though not every problem has a clear solution, doing something is major progress.
In some cases, the action step might be to decide there is nothing you can do about the problem and the best thing you can do is leave it and move on. But even that’s a step. A much better step than moaning about an issue for another week, day or even hour.
6. Make ALL news your friend.
I’ve been using the term bad news throughout this post. But as my friend Rich Birch once told me, there’s no such thing as bad news, only news.
He’s right.
Bad news can make you think you’re worse than you actually are. And good news can make you think you’re better than you actually are.
So why not just treat all news simply as news?
That way, you’ll be able to spot the warning signs in good news (they’re always there) and the hope in bad news (yep … it’s there too … you just have to look hard).
When all news is your friend, you can roll up your sleeves and get to work. Which is exactly what you’re called to do as a leader.
