Sales leaders, here’s how to deliver bad news to your team by @Steli (Close.io)

http://blog.close.io/sales-leaders-deliver-bad-news

another Monday morning: The sun’s shining, the investors are happy, and the entire office seems to be in an exceptionally good mood. You can just tell it’s gonna be a great week. Or so you thought, until you got that call.

You know, the one from your most profitable customer saying, “Yeah, we’re not gonna be renewing our contract at the end of the month. Thanks for the last five years, though. Peace.”

The news hits like a bombshell, and your head’s still reeling when you come to a terrible realization: As a leader, you actually have to do something about this. Moreover, you have to be the one that breaks the bad news to your team.

There’s nothing worse than having to drop bad news on the people you’re responsible for. But here’s a wake-up call: As a leader, navigating bad news is your job, your responsibility, and your privilege.

Your team chose you as much as you chose them, and this is your opportunity to prove to them they made a good decision. If you don’t mess it up.

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Seriously, don’t mess it up

There’s only one thing worse than bad news: Bad news, delivered badly.

I see it all the time in inexperienced leaders: They get the news and immediately think, “Okay, how can I make sure nobody knows about this?”

It’s a symptom of imposter syndrome. Suddenly, all of your time and energy goes into hiding the problem rather than solving it, but guess what? Your team always finds out sooner or later, and in the worst possible way: By uncovering something you were trying to hide.

And just like that, your credibility as a leader is compromised. Now not only do you have a crisis to navigate, you have to navigate it without the trust and faith of your team. And spoiler alert: It’s probably not gonna work. Your team’s too divided to survive.

How to break bad news to your team

Alright, that’s the wrong way to break bad news. Thankfully there’s a better way. It just takes a bit of finesse and patience. I recommend breaking the process down into three days:

On the first day, keep the news to yourself and focus on managing your emotional response.

On the second day, do research around the problem, gather data, and ask for help from advisors.

On the third day, call a meeting and break the news to your team.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the three days.

Day I: Getting perspective

First things first: When you get bad news, it’s probably gonna sound like the end of the world. It’s not, unless you treat it that way.

Because here’s the thing: If you, as your team’s fearless leader, claim the sky is falling, people are gonna believe you. They’re gonna buy into your fear and helplessness, and that doesn’t help anyone.

So pause, take a minute, and breathe. Don’t jump to conclusions, solutions, or decisions; not yet. Your number one priority after getting bad news must be managing your own emotional household before you worry about anyone or anything else.

Before taking any further action, I recommend completing two exercises: The Worst Case Scenario Planner and The Five Why’s. Let’s take a quick look at each.

The Worst Case Scenario Planner

If the present crisis feels like the end of the world, you lack perspective. The truth is, even the worst case scenario probably isn’t really all that bad.....