Bad News Doesn't Improve with Age

Shortly before dawn on January 2, 2006, the peace and quiet of a small community in West Virginia was shattered by an explosion deep inside the earth. A section of the Sago coal mine collapsed, trapping 13 men in a small, confined area. Relatives and friends of the trapped miners maintained a vigil inside a local church for two days as rescuers worked around the clock to try to free the miners. Nearly 41 hours after the explosion, family members heard that 12 of the 13 miners were alive! It was the miracle they had been praying for. As the families celebrated this remarkable news, mine officials and others in the command center heard from the rescue team in the mine that the earlier report of 12 survivors was wrong. Three hours later, mine officials gave the family the bad news–all of the miners, except one, were dead.

As we look back on this scene, we see a tragedy–a tragedy that was magnified by the lack of timely communication from leadership. The leadership of the company that owned and operated the Sago mine knew within 30 minutes that the reported ‘miracle’ was incorrect. Instead of immediately telling the families that the miners had not been found alive, they allowed the families continue to believe the false story for three anxiety-filled hours. Why? When asked that question by reporters, the company’s CEO said that mine officials wanted to confirm the situation and get more information before updating the families.  He further explained that their intent was to spare the families from even greater emotional turmoil.  

This true story illustrates a couple of very important leadership principles. One, bad news doesn’t improve with age. In fact, the longer you wait to tell people an unpleasant truth, the more problems you create for yourself and others. Two, in times of crisis or uncertainty, leaders need to be more visible and communicate, communicate, communicate! Remember former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani after the 9-11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center?  He didn’t sit in his office waiting for news updates while working with his speech writers. He was out in the streets talking to the people most affected by this terrible tragedy.

So what could the mine company’s leaders have done differently? Upon learning that only one miner had been found alive, the CEO could have met with the families right away.  He could have told them that the command center had received conflicting reports about the number of survivors and that they were working to confirm or refute the earlier report. He could have promised to communicate with the families every hour until all the men had been brought out of the mine.

It’s almost impossible for a leader to over-communicate during such difficult times as impending layoffs, leadership shakeups, news-breaking scandals, and mergers/acquisitions. In the absence of information, the rumor mill runs amok.  It is just human nature to fill in the blanks with something—anything—whether it is accurate or not. 

Remember this cautionary tale the next time you have to deliver bad news. Be thoughful about the message you want to deliver, prepare talking points, and anticipate questions and concerns from your audience.  But, know that there will never be the perfect time or the perfect way to say it.  So, don’t delay and start talking.