Delivering Bad News To Your Boss

When Carolyn, a vice president of marketing at a large design firm, and her assistant could not find the files for a project they had been working on, their search revealed that Carolyn’s boss, without communicating his plans, had given the project to a newly hired vice president. “Can you imagine? He takes the project away and didn’t even come to talk to me. I could have spit I was so angry,” she recalled. Carolyn was admittedly delighted when the new vice president, 6 months after being hired, was terminated because he did not “fit the culture.”

“Did you get the project back?” I asked. “Are you kidding? Giving it back to me would have been an admission of his poor hiring decision,” Carolyn said.

I asked her why she had never told him about how upset she was over the situation, especially when it first happened.

“Oh, he knew,” she said. “He had to know.” People who do not communicate with their leaders about unpleasant or disappointing issues are only hurting themselves. Even the best of leaders have blind spots, and an overlooked problem or a misaligned strategy should not be assumed to be intentional disrespect or harm. Leaders manage huge workloads and aggressive deadlines and simply may fail to consider a possible outcome. While many organizations have formal methods such as anonymous surveys to help leaders know where things stand and how they are performing, these methods are not usually enough. Your leader may need to hear some bad news in between formal assessments.

This checklist is a good place to begin thinking about how good you are at sharing tough information with your leader:

___ I disagree with my boss when I feel strongly about something.

___ I see it as part of my responsibility to give my boss an alternative point of view.

___ I am smart enough to know when to disagree with my boss and when not to.

___ I would never challenge my boss in front of his or her peers.

___ I weigh the risks against the benefits before giving feedback.

If you have decided to have that tough conversation with your boss—the one about how he or she is undermining you in your relationships with customers or how you believe that the marketing strategy for next year fails to tap a key customer base—think carefully. Ask yourself, What is my desired outcome? What are the possible negative consequences? Will someone else be affected by my decision to go forward? What will happen if I do not speak up? After you are clear about your purpose, possible risks and repercussions, and the outcome you are hoping for, plan your part of the discussion. In telling your boss bad news, you will need to

Present a solid case. Do not just go in with personal opinions. Present the facts, including real numbers or evidence or specific examples of the behavior you are addressing. Do not exaggerate, and make sure that you use neutral language. For example, “You say things that make me feel insignificant, particularly when we are around customers” is much better than “You treat me like a child.”

Offer a fix. You do not want to just be a complainer. If appropriate, propose a workable solution. For instance, if you are pointing out that his or her marketing plan ignores a key customer base, then present an alternative that stays within budget.