Smell of Death - Rattle of Death

As CEO of large organizations I hated it when people came to me with all good news all the time. I didn't despise the good news. I despised the fact that the news bringers were using this as a way to ingratiate themselves to me, the giver of raises, the promoter of people, the favor provider.

I saw thru it.

I always appreciated the ones who had the courage to tell me the facts of life. If things were in trouble he would alert me, rattle my cage, get my attention. By this I learned the smell of death. I learned the sound of the death rattle. Unless I was able to do so I was unable to respond. I took seriously the reports I got. I wasn't discouraged. It prompted me to action. All good news all the time can prompt a leader to inaction. If it ain't broke don't fix it becomes a losing philosophy.

There is a great story in the Bible 2 Kings 4, about the Shunnamite woman who Elisha had prophesied a son for and who bore same. The son died. She goes to find the prophet. Her husband asks if things are ok. She says all is well. It wasn't. The kid was dead. Even the prophet's servant asks and she says all is well. But when she gets to the Prophet she falls at his feet and says the Boy is dead: Did I desire a son of my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?

Why didn't she tell her husband? Her husband wasn't the power. Why not tell even the servant of the Prophet. Not in charge. He should have been but she understood spiritual authority. She told the truth about smell of death and death rattle to the one who could do something about it all. And he did. The boy was revived.

Going back to my experience as a CEO. The people I really valued were the ones who would say only to me, the ship is sinking, the rattle of death is being sounded. Do something. But to others outside the power structure, they would report All is Well. In that way we dealt with trouble and problems while insulating those who didn't need to know there WAS trouble.

That's my kind of bad news bringer. I'll never despise them. I understood that my capacity to receive and respond to bad news was the limiter of my authority in the position I held. If I couldn't handle it I should step down.

Good or Bad, bring it on.

UPDATE:
After writing this I thought about all the businesses I have started and those which were great successes and those which were dismal failures. The greatest failures I have ever experienced are those that did not have a person at some level willing to tell me the hard truth. My last failure, DVN, had not ONE person who would look me in the eye and say, "we are in deep weeds here and if something doesn't change we will go over the edge".

That blindness compounded by a busier and busier schedule driven by the situation caused me to trust that others were doing what I hired them to do. They were not and in the end I was led to the edge of bankruptcy by good news givers.

Don't ever ever ever fear bad news or denigrate those who bring it. They are essential to your health as a leader. Believe me, I have earned the right to give you this sound advice. Even if you think you know the whole situation and are already facing it, multiple analysis of the circumstance can only bring clarity to the whole solution if there is one to be found.

At DVN we had a manager who 8 months before we discovered our bankrupt condition had reported a profit for the year and taken a bonus as a result of it. Not truth, just good news. We had NOT really made a profit. We had really lost money.

Beware of the person who gives only good news unless it's Jesus. Then, check his ID. You'll find a copy of it in the Bible.