In my career, I have seen very few people that are willing to confront the brutal facts.

For a somewhat relevant example… consider performance reviews. How often have managers been able to tell their long term employee that they are not performing? Even in this structured environment of a performance review, they can not seem to deliver the right message and confront the facts.

This type of direct dialog that you highlight in your post takes practice. People are often embarrassed or unsure how to even approach the subject. I believe it is a very easy conversation, if…

You bring data.

The gossip will quickly come to an end if leadership requires the use of ‘true data’ in all decision making processes. Ignore those who don’t use data… and reward those that do.

Always enjoy your posts!
Michael
http://blog.informedleaders.com