STRATEGY

This is one of the most stressful and difficult dialogues you could have with a supervisor. Not only are you somewhat embarrassed by the failure—whether it was your fault or not—but you're also worried the setback could affect your standing in the organization. The key to fulfilling your obligations and minimizing any potential damage to you is to turn this meeting as quickly as possible into a discussion about what to do now, rather than a postmortem of what went wrong. The secrets of doing that are to make sure the news comes from you, so you can control the spin; demonstrate that the situation was beyond your control or accept the responsibility; and present a plan of action that mitigates the damage.

TACTICS

• Attitude: Approach this as an opportunity to prove you're resourceful and can take charge in a crisis. Be willing to accept the responsibility for what has happened, but not necessarily the blame. Finally, realize that your supervisor's anger may not be with you, but with the situation.
• Preparation: Have an explanation for why the problem has occurred. If there were any hints of trouble be ready to explain what you did in response. Most importantly, have a detailed written proposal that suggests a course of action.
• Timing: While you shouldn't burst into a closed‐door meeting and blurt out the news, you must bring this to your supervisor's attention as soon as you can. It's essential the news comes from you first.

  
  

• Behavior: Don't show contrition unless you are actually to blame. However, do show concern, not for yourself, but for the company. Use every possible chance to move beyond what happened to what to do now. Don't shy away from playing to your supervisor's ego…but try to be subtle. Sucking up won't take the place of accepting responsibility, but it can help deflect free‐floating anger.

ADAPTATIONS

This script can be modified to:

• Break bad news to parents, friends, spouses, teachers, and so on.
• Deliver negative financial news to an investor or partner.

KEY POINTS

• Be direct, but try to offer some hope as soon as possible.
• Immediately either demonstrate you're blameless or acknowledge your responsibility.
• If your supervisor takes the news well, or still questions your account, restate your position and move right on to your plan of action.
• If your supervisor gets angry or threatens you, try to get on their side by saying you're angry too, and then move on to what you think should be done now.
• Whatever the initial response to your plan, reaffirm your belief that it will work, add some flattery, and offer whatever help you can in overcoming the problem.