Bad news gets heavier the longer you carry it. Leaders hand it over while it’s still light.

Bad news does not improve with storage. Held on to, it grows extra weight, because now there is the original problem plus the fact that you sat on it, and the second part is usually what people get angry about. Early, it is a thing to solve together. Late, it is a thing you concealed. The delay is almost always about your own discomfort rather than about timing.

Tell them today, in plain words, with what you think should happen next. The conversation you are dreading is shorter than the one you will have in a week.