If people only bring you good news, it means bad news feels dangerous to deliver. Fix that.

LEADERSHIP

WHAT THIS MEANS

A clean stream of good reports is almost never a sign that everything is fine. It means the cost of telling you something bad is higher than the cost of staying quiet, so problems get managed privately until they are too big to hide. By then your options are much worse than they would have been.

Make your first reaction to bad news count, because everybody is watching how you take it. Say thanks, ask what would help, and keep blame out of that conversation entirely. Ask directly what you are not being told, then sit through the pause.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Would somebody tell you bad news without fearing your reaction?

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