Don't Shine the Turd
At Golf.com, I (Mike) was on a board call presenting our sales results.
They weren't great. So I did what a lot of founders do. I put an overly positive spin on them. Made the numbers sound better than they were. Highlighted the bright spots. Minimized the misses.
Matt Sirovich, one of our board members, interrupted me.
"I'm only going to say this once. Don't shine the turd. You tell us the good, the bad, and the ugly every time you get on this call."
I never forgot it.
Why This Matters
Matt wasn't upset about bad news. He was upset about surprises. About burying the bad news. About making a turd look like a pretty rock.
Most founders think their job is to project confidence. To keep investors calm. To spin the story.
But the best investors don't want spin. They want truth. They can handle bad news. What they can't handle is finding out three months later that the fire you said was "under control" has burned down the building.
When results suck, great leaders do three things:
- Take ownership immediately.
- Share the news transparently.
- Communicate a plan that addresses the underlying causes.
If you step in manure, everyone will smell it. There's no point in acting like it's not on your shoes. Own it quickly. Clean it up. Move on.
We adopted this as a mantra at Buddy Media. And something interesting happened. By practicing transparency as leaders, we created a culture where employees felt like trusted partners. They spoke up about issues. They shared the not-so-good news far more than they would have if we hadn't set the example.
Trust compounds. But only if you tell the truth when it's hard.
A Question to Sit With
What bad news have you been "shining" instead of sharing?
Love,
