How to deliver bad news like a leader?

What if you have to deliver bad news to somebody, how would you go about it? Would you be worried or anxious? Would you be afraid? Nobody likes receiving bad news, but bad news does not always need to be bad. It’s all in the delivery, here’s why.

Is it true that nobody likes bad news? Imagine the following scenarios:

• You are a business owner and something is failing within your business. Would you prefer to know so that you deal with it, or would you rather not know and continue to fail?
• You are a person who may have a cancerous disease. Would you rather know about it so you can try and heal, or would you rather not know?
• You are in a relationship, just about to get married and your partner is cheating on you. Would you rather know about it before or after the wedding?
• You are running a project and there is a serious delay in manufacturing. Would you rather know about it sooner, or not at all?

Do you get the picture? Bad news doesn’t have to be bad news if delivered effectively.

So how do you deliver bad news effectively? I recall a point in my career as a leader when I had to fire an employee for the first time. I am a direct person, but thought this approach could cause more problems. So I opted for a more softer approach. This didn’t work. I was not getting to the point, beating around the bush and the conversation became awkward and difficult. The next time I fired an employee I chose a different approach, one that was honest and genuine which went much smoother and resulted in both of us leaving the conversation on good terms. This approach was the direct yet positive approach.  Here are some steps:

1. Be honest and genuine in your approach
2. Be direct and get to the point
3. Remain positive

Here are some examples on how this approach is used in real life:

• “I have some bad news. I’m sorry to say that your family member has passed away. I’m here for you if you need me”
• “I have some bad news. I’m sorry to that we’re going to have to let you go because of your underperformance recently. I am happy to give you a good reference to help you in your next move”
• “I have some bad news. I’m sorry to say that there has been a major setback in the project, however I am already looking into options to help mitigate the issues” (this is personally something I experience a lot as a Project Manager)

These examples deliver bad news effectively, allow the other person time to absorb and then create a more positive atmosphere. In some cases news is so horrible that all you can do is be there for the person.

I trust this helps, JT