Leadership Realities (Part II)

So I'm on a roll... onwards to Leadership Realities (Part II) - Bad News is Hidden.

You can't blame them. When things go wrong... nobody want to have to tell the boss...

So the vendor missed a deadline, we can make the time somewhere else anyway.... or there is a potential issue with one of your system designs, but if the boss doesn't see it, we should be OK for now...

Yes everyone has an excuse for not telling bad news to the boss. It's even easier to make excuses when the boss shoots the messenger. Unfortunately we still live in an age where the majority of bosses (and the successors they have been grooming) manage with a bullwhip and a chair.

And maybe that is the reason why so few companies "Confront the brutal facts" and make the transformation from Good to Great.

So what can a Youngleader do to change this?

Well the first thing would be to have courage. Not too long ago I spoke to one of my supervisors about her style of dealing with people. It was quite obvious that she looked down upon the more technically skilled members of our team because many of them had a language and cultural barrier to overcome. Because of her outlook and the existing communication barriers she created the potential for miscommunication, errors in work, and project delays.

I confronted her about this, for the good of the project that we were working on. It was scary... and well she shot the messenger... which was even scarier for me... but I did what I thought was right.

Why should we "do the kabuki" (as Arnold would say)... hide the bad news only to waste months of work and thousands of dollars... just to save one person's ego? We shouldn't right?
(And in any case I still have my job... so at least for now I'm OK).

What else can a Youngleader do? Well, you might have the opportunity for a leadership role in a student or community organization. Why not be the kind of leader who can accept the brutal facts without shooting the messenger? Why not be the kind of leader who actively looks for (constructive) criticisms in order to continually improve?

Yes, it will be hard... and yes you will have to sometimes swallow your pride. But what's more important to you... your pride or your goals and your mission?

The answer should be obvious.

-Jason