Don’t Shoot The Messenger
Every leader likes to hear good news. We all want to be positive people who inspire others through our can do attitude. If we are not careful though we will surround ourselves with team members who will start to tell us what we want to hear and not what we need to know.
When you create a culture within your organization where the truth can be told you must not make the mistake of reacting every time you hear bad news or something negative. If you do, you are shutting yourself off from critical information that you must know and you have created an environment where your best people will eventually leave.
Jack Welch calls the lack of candor the biggest dirty secret in business. Avoiding conflict and hoping things will get better is the formula for failure especially in the realities of the new economy.
I am not talking about chronic negative whining people who never really want to solve the problem. They should not be tolerated within any organization because they are a cancer to your creativity and morale.
So the next time that person walks into your office who you know is drop dead loyal and they need to talk about a problem that must be addressed be grateful and listen they have got your back.
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