Episode #486: Leaders Dealing With Bad News

When things are humming along beautifully, leading is a snap. We can even indulge ourselves in some tangential activities because we have been able to remove our nose from the grindstone. We join a committee in a Chamber of Commerce or a non-profit. We have a spring in our step and effuse confidence and certainty. Our energy is electric and we infect everyone with our bonhomie. When the plan has been set and then things don’t go accordingly, we feel we are under assault from waves of challenge after challenge. We have to be brutal thespians wringing out the maximum leverage possible to mask our despair. Our team take their direction from us and if we go into a hole of depression, then they will be leaping into that same hole, like lemmings following the leader into oblivion.

We ride the razor edge of concern about the lack of results and the need to maintain our optimism that this ship will right itself and not go down. If we were emotionally stable all of the time, this may be doable, but we are creatures of emotion too. We are not always able to be in full control of how we are feeling and how we are projecting those feelings. When the cash isn’t arriving we are focused on cash flow control and our mentality becomes minimum rather than maximum. We are focused down on specific numbers to the exclusion of other indicators. The team can feel the change in us.

There is no doubt this is what we should be doing. However, how we do it is the rub. If we go hard on the team, because we are feeling desperate, is that going to be the way to get them self-motivated to get us all out of this hole we are in? If we let our anger erupt over the results and start blaming people for their poor contribution, is that going to work? I can guarantee you that won’t work.

I was privy to a series of volcanic eruptions by the President of a company when the numbers were not matching his expectations. His temper went from zero to one hundred in two seconds, as he just verbally pummelled the poor saps sitting directly opposite him. The seating was random, so they just happened to choose the worst seats in the room, but they didn't know that until it was too late.

Here is a hint. If you are ever required to attend public meetings with a psycho masquerading as the President, always sit on the same side of the table as he is and as far away toward the end of the table as possible. He actually has to physically lean forward and turn his head ninety degrees to see you, which he doesn't bother to do, because there are enough victims sitting directly in front of him. Were we more motivated after these humiliations? No. But we were spending a lot of time bitching to each other about what a lunatic he was.

If we paint a picture of despair and impending doom, we will be driving people out of the organisation as they seek a safer harbour elsewhere. Where is the line between disaster and hope? Painting too black a picture can lead some people to just give up and try again somewhere else, because everything here looks doomed, after hearing in detail from you. If we are seeming too confident, will the team take the situation seriously and put in the required effort to stop us from going under?

This is such a tender balancing act and we have to be really on our communication game to pull this off. Some people suggest full transparency when things get tough, so that everyone fully understands the seriousness of the situation. I am not sure that is a great idea. As mentioned there will be a rush for the door in some cases, so the news needs to be carefully curated by the leader.

Not only the communication piece needs attention, but also our demeanour and body language demands to be constantly checked for tell signs of depression and desperation. As posited earlier, this is where our thespian “fake it until you make it” capacity gets a run. Our people are reading us for indications on the safety of their job and their futures. How we carry ourselves, how confident we look and how positive we sound, are all key indicators of potential trouble. This is a lot of pressure, but we have to play the role of the immovable leader, become the rock, the one who can be relied on upon to keep their head, when everyone around them is spinning out of control.