Everyone loves good news because they make us feel good. News like getting a promotion, winning a new contract, receiving positive feedback, whatever it might be, gives us a buzz. Good news release the happy hormones in our body which lift our mood and provide a natural antidote to stress。
人人都喜欢好消息。因为好消息可以让人感觉良好。无论这个消息是关于升职、赢得一份新合同、获得正面的反馈还是其他什么,都会让我们非常兴奋。好消息会使我们的身体释放出可以改善我们的情绪的快乐荷尔蒙,这种荷尔蒙正是缓解压力的一剂天然妙方。
The reverse it true for bad news. We naturally don’t like bad news. Nobody wants to hear that things are not going well, that something hasn’t worked, or we have failed. When we get bad news we often try to push them away or ignore them, because they do the opposite of good news – they naturally trigger worries, stress us and make us less happy。
我们通常不喜欢坏消息。没人会想听到诸如事情进展的不顺利、方法无效或者我们失败了等消息。当坏消息来的时候,我们经常试图逃避或者无视它们。因为它们和好消息正好相反——它们会诱发焦虑,产生压力,使人痛苦。
At work, bad news are often hidden, brushed under the carpet, or ignored. The reasons for this are that no one wants to admit they made a mistake and we often believe that the bearers of bad news put themselves in the firing line. In the interest of our own career progression and to keep the general mood up, we don’t talk about bad news。
在工作中,人们经常掩盖、隐瞒或者无视坏消息。没有人愿意承认自己犯错了,因为我们总觉得报告坏消息的人有被解雇的风险。为了自身的职业进展的利益,以及保持良好的情绪,我们不会谈及坏消息。
Leaders are often sheltered from bad news. People around them protect them, they love to only tell the good news, and because this makes everyone feel better. In many instances it is personality or the company culture that make it difficult for anyone to bring bad news。
领导者总能不被坏消息侵袭。领导者身边的人保护领导者免于听到坏消息,他们只喜欢说好消息。而且只说好消息可以让大家都更轻松愉快。在许多例子中,正是个人文化或者企业文化使得人们难以说出坏消息。
What we have to do is to change our responses to bad news. Instead of the more natural “oh no, I can't believe it. I don’t want to know” reaction, we have to force ourselves to respond more positively along the lines of: “thank you so much for telling me. I really appreciate that。” This does take some conscious effort and requires extra efforts the higher up you are in the organization because of all the people that might 'filters' the truth。
我们要做的就是改变我们对待坏消息的反应。我们应该迫使自己回应地更加正面,譬如:“非常感谢你告诉我。我非常感激。”而不是更自然地回应道“哦,不,我不敢相信。我不想要知道。” 你在公司中的地位越高,你就越需要花精力有意识地去了解坏消息,因为你从下面得到的消息已经经过了层层的“过滤”了。
There are three things that really good (and successful) leaders do when it comes to bad news:
下面是那些真正优秀(成功)的领导者遇到坏消息时会做的三件事情:
1. They work on the way they personally react to bad news and make a conscious effort to react positively。
1、他们努力影响人们对待坏消息的反应,致力于让大家积极正面的对待坏消息。
2.They create an environment where bad news are welcome. Where people are expected to rise issues as soon as they appear, rather than hiding them. They often create an environment where the consequences for not telling bad news far outweigh the potential consequences of telling bad news。
2、他们将氛围变得可以让人们能随意说出坏消息。这种氛围鼓励人们在问题出现时就立即提出来,而不是掩盖问题。在这种氛围下,隐瞒坏消息的后果远远比说坏消息带来的潜在后果严重多了。
3. They make sure to celebrate turnaround stories: where people have come up and told the bad news, and were the right actions were taken straight away to contain or eliminate the problem. Sharing these stories will help to create the right environment and will send out the signals that it is not only important to share bad news, but that the reactions and consequences are positive。
3、他们确保大家庆祝“处理坏消息”的优良事迹。在这些事迹中,有人说出了坏消息,并且采取了正确的行动去解决问题。分享这些事迹将有助于创造合适的氛围,并释放出一种信号。这种信号告诉我们不仅说出坏消息很重要,积极正面的应对和最终的结果也同样非常重要。