If aggressive moves are made to hide information and keep secrets, this is often bad. In the long run, concealing bad news tends not to be the best solution.
Covering up is a reflex response in most organisations. However, leaders who recognise that speaking up early and truthfully has many benefits can then better manage even a fast-moving crisis. Reputation is a long-term endeavour so even if you take a reputation hit today, you may still gain more in the future.
Therefore, don’t panic if there is bad news on the horizon. The future benefits guaranteed by transparency are worth it in the form of having people both inside and outside the company who know they can trust you. This is according to the Harvard Business Review.
Choose transparency as the crisis unfolds
Bad news on the way might involve reports of a crime committed by one of your employees. Or misconduct of personnel at the hospital you manage. Obtain accurate information so that your attention and skills can face and solve the challenges. With newly identified problems, start working on what needs to be done.
It takes courage to choose transparency. It is crucial that it starts at the very top of the organisation. So even if numbers are moving in the wrong direction, transparency is still the essential starting point for changing things for the better.
It is a case of things getting worse before they get better. You need to encourage your staff to speak up honestly about the problems they observe. If they don’t, any success may be merely illusory. You need to have information about what is not working: without that, there will be no progress.
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