Leadership and teams · Short · 11 August 2026
The Law of the Punished Messenger: why do employees stop reporting problems?
When you punish whoever brings bad news, you don’t get rid of the problem: you get rid of the messenger. You can’t demand transparency; you have to make it safe.
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Your actions for this week
- Next time someone brings you bad news, start with “Thanks for letting me know”.
- Then ask what’s happened, what the impact is and what options there are.
- Leave working out who was responsible for later.
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