{"id":300,"date":"2018-02-15T14:01:02","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T14:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danielvlopes238992071.wordpress.com\/2018\/02\/15\/the-bad-news-advantage-the-importance-of-giving-difficult-feedback\/"},"modified":"2025-02-28T13:43:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T21:43:38","slug":"the-bad-news-advantage-the-importance-of-giving-difficult-feedback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2018\/02\/15\/the-bad-news-advantage-the-importance-of-giving-difficult-feedback\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bad News Advantage: The importance of giving difficult feedback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why sharing bad news makes you a more effective leader.<\/h4>\n
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Sharing bad news is a good thing.<\/p>\n

As a leader, you might not think it, at first. But it\u2019s true. Leaders who are honest about the bad\u200a\u2014\u200ajust as much as the good\u200a\u2014\u200aare better leaders.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just me saying<\/em> this. Research proves this.<\/p>\n

In a 2013 study discussed in Forbes<\/a>, researchers found that leaders who gave honest feedback were rated as five times more effective<\/strong> than ones who do not. In addition, leaders who gave honest feedback had employees who were rated as three times more engaged<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Employees yearn for this honest, corrective feedback. In a study shared in Harvard Business Review<\/a>, 57% people preferred corrective feedback<\/strong> to purely praise and recognition. When further asked what was most helpful in their careers, 72% employees said they thought their performance would improve if their managers would provide corrective feedback.<\/p>\n

In other words, people don\u2019t just want to be patted on the back and told, \u201cGood job.\u201d Employees want the truth. They want to know: How can I be better? What can I change or improve?<\/em><\/p>\n

I call this \u201cThe Bad News Advantage.\u201d When you share bad news and honest feedback, you gain three advantages:<\/p>\n

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  1. You become a better leader.<\/li>\n
  2. You engage your team more.<\/li>\n
  3. You\u2019re saying what your employees want<\/em> to hear.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Leaders who understand these benefits of \u201cThe Bad News Advantage\u201d have a leg up over others.<\/p>\n

    However, despite how helpful sharing bad news and honest feedback can be, we as leaders avoid it like the plague.<\/p>\n

    In two other surveys<\/a> published in Harvard Business Review, each of nearly 8,000 managers, 44% of managers reported that they found it stressful and difficult to give negative feedback. Twenty-one percent of managers avoided giving negative feedback entirely.<\/p>\n

    Sound familiar?\u00a0\ud83d\ude42 You may have found yourself avoiding giving negative feedback or sugar-coating your words to an employee, at some point. I know I have. Giving honest feedback can feel critical, unnatural and just flat-out uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

    Des Traynor<\/a>, co-founder of Intercom<\/a>, knows this feeling, too. I recently interviewed him<\/a>, and he candidly admitted how he\u2019d found himself in this situation\u2026<\/p>\n

    Des had entered a one-on-one meeting, prepared to give honest feedback to an underperforming employee. In fact, he\u2019d written down notes beforehand of what he wanted to say.<\/p>\n

    Then, he went into the meeting to deliver the feedback.<\/p>\n

    Upon leaving the meeting, Des looked back at his notes and realized he\u2019d said the complete opposite<\/em> to the employee. He\u2019d minced his words, and dramatically softened what was supposed to be pointed feedback.<\/p>\n

    The employee walked away thinking he didn\u2019t need to change anything he was doing\u200a\u2014\u200awhich was not what Des was thinking.<\/p>\n

    In that moment, Des, like many of us, had forgotten \u201cThe Bad News Advantage.\u201d He\u2019d forgotten that when you give difficult, honest feedback\u2026<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. You become a better leader.<\/li>\n
    2. You engage your team more.<\/li>\n
    3. You\u2019re saying what your employees want<\/em> to hear.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Des is an incredibly self-aware leader to have recognized this himself. He clearly saw the lost opportunity to improve things with an employee, and has since made delivering honest feedback\u200a\u2014\u200ano matter how bad it is\u200a\u2014\u200aa priority as a leader.<\/p>\n

      But that\u2019s just Des.<\/p>\n

      How about you?<\/p>\n

      <\/p>\n

      For a deeper dive, be sure to check out our \u201cFeedback Loop<\/a>\u201d module in Canopy. The first few lessons are free \u2013 as are hundreds of daily tips. Try\u00a0Canopy<\/a><\/em>\u00a0for free, yourself, today.<\/em><\/p>\n

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