If you are a CEO who typically responds to bad news with angry outbursts, don't be surprised to find out you are the last to know when something goes wrong.

Employees who work for such leaders learn to do whatever it takes to keep bad news under wraps.  

To be successful, it's critical that a leader have open communication with your team and that you are able to discuss the good and the bad without fear of reprisal.  

As a CEO, if you want to avoid surprises, you need to do four things:

• Accept bad news in silence. Don't say a word if you are angry or frustrated. Take a break, get a cup of coffee or just pause for a few moments to reframe the situation so you can identify your ideal outcomes before taking action.
• Don't play the blame game. A CEO must take ownership of losses instead of immediately blaming others and the team.
• Apologize and learn from your mistakes. If you have an outburst, meet individually with your team and apologize, asking if there was something you could do differently to make it easier for them to share all news with you - good, bad and ugly.
• Learn from successes and failures. Working with your team, develop plans to avoid surprises by systematically reviewing all successes and failures. Clarify your role is to get involved and offer support to help set the team up for even greater success in the future.

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Additional Reading: The Speed of Trust by Steven Covey. Trust is so integral to our relationships that we often take it for granted, yet in an era marked by business scandals and a desire for accountability, this book by leadership expert Covey is a welcome guide to nurturing trust in our professional and personal lives.

Drawing on anecdotes and business cases from his years as CEO of the Covey Leadership Center, the author effectively reminds us that there's plenty of room for improvement on this virtue.  Covey outlines 13 behaviors of trust-inspiring leaders, such as demonstrating respect, creating transparency, righting wrongs, delivering results and practicing accountability.

The survey is in and the results are fascinating! This month, we present the results of our survey of 100 CEOs and 80 executives across Canada. Here's a sneak peak: The top three challenges facing CEOs today include:

• Attracting, retaining and developing top talent
• Growing the business in an increasingly competitive and uncertain external environment.
• Time mastery -- finding the appropriate mix between daily operations and strategic planning; and balance between work and home. 

New executive forum launching this fall  Due to popular demand, associate Nico Human will soon kick off our newest executive forum in Vancouver.

If you're not a member of one of our forums, you're missing out on an advantage your competitors may already be enjoying.

These peer-based groups for CEOs and executives (CFO, COO, CIO or VP Sales, Marketing or Human Resources) are giving  leaders the edge. To learn more,  Contact Nancy or click here for more information.

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