My leadership team keeps reporting that their quarterly Rocks and scorecard metrics are on track, but we keep missing our financial targets at the end of the quarter. How do we break this habit of hiding bad news until it is too late to fix it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a leadership team repeatedly reports that their Rocks and metrics are on track but the company still misses its quarterly financial targets, you have a trust problem disguised as an execution problem. Your leaders are practicing status management, trying to look good in meetings rather than being vulnerable about where they are actually struggling.

To break this self-protection habit, you must change how you react to red metrics. If your leaders are penalized or criticized when they report a miss, they will naturally hide the truth as long as possible.

During your Level 10 Meeting, establish a rule that a metric or Rock is either on track or off track, there is no in-between. If a metric is off track, it must turn red immediately. Red is not a failure, it is simply data that needs the team's attention.

Praise the leaders who are vulnerable enough to drop their metrics to red early in the quarter. This signals to the entire team that admitting a struggle is safe.

Once a metric is red, drop it down to the IDS list. Use your collaborative problem solving time to help the leader get back on track rather than accusing them of underperforming. When your team realizes that honesty leads to help instead of blame, they will stop hiding bad news.