It's Your (Leader) Ship

Thank the Messenger

Bad news is going to happen in even the best-run organizations. There's no way around it. Managers and CEOs need not only to set the vision but also to deal with accidents that happen along the way. They can only do that if people feel comfortable bringing bad news to their attention.

At the end of the day, I want people to be honest with me. That means more to me than anything. But if they think I'm going to shoot the messenger, people will put off those hard conversations until the time when value starts to erode. While I may have been able to construct a solution last week, there's now a deadline looming, and the best I can do is damage control. That's bad.

Enron is a classic case of a culture that shot people who brought problems to leaders' attention. Those people should be thanked and celebrated because they have the courage to bring up bad news. Communication is key in any organization.

Promote Risk Takers

I've encountered companies that only promote people who don't make any mistakes. You show me someone who doesn't make any mistakes, and I'll show you someone who's not doing anything to improve the business. The business climate today demands that we continue to try new things. By promoting people who never fail, organizations are sending a terrible signal to other employees that it's not worth going out on a limb or making any bold improvements for the company.

Leaders need to resist a zero-defect mentality that says, If you make one mistake, you're done for. It's a cancer in the organization. Mistakes are learning opportunities. On the Benfold, we tried never to make the same mistake twice. But we always encouraged crew members to try new things, to brainstorm new solutions. Because we were training at lower and lower levels of the crew, people gained experience, confidence, and accountability. Sure, they screwed up sometimes, but they were thinking for themselves. If all you have is order takers on your crew, then all you have is people who will never take accountability for their actions.

Anni Layne Rodgers (arodgers@fastcompany.com) is the Fast Company senior Web editor. D. Michael Abrashoff (Mike@grassrootsleadership.com) is available via email. It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy is for sale on Amazon.com.