We’ve all experienced it a thousand times.  The person who comes to the meeting and drops the proverbial “bomb” of a problem.  Frankly, we’re lucky if this comes during a meeting.  Usually it comes in email form.

There’s not much more that upsets a boss and the rest of the staff than simply dropping a bomb and not having a proposed solution to the problem.

So how do we elevate our game and become the solution to the problem rather than just the bearer of bad news?  We can do three things:

1 – Acknowledge the problem and assess what it affects.

2 – Take a few moments and develop possible solutions to the problem.  Pro tip – enlist the help of other members of your team.  This creates buy-in and fosters creativity.

3 – Set up a meeting with your boss to present the problem with your proposed solutions.  Describe the issue and then present a few options, three is ideal.  This gives your boss a menu of ideas to choose from.  Pro tip – email the presentation to her prior to the meeting in order to give her a chance to digest the ideas.

By not just identifying a problem, but also providing possible solutions to the problem, we become an invaluable member of the team and the go to person for problem solving.

Below are three things I learned this week:

1 – For ideas on police reform and how to handle riots and mobs, check out this article on Clifford Stott. I believe this is the direction we need to go.

2 – How exactly do you catch COVID? – excellent, apolitical, non-dramatic article from the WSJ.

3 – Ian Cron interviewed Michael Hyatt on his new book, The Vision Driven Leader – it is a must listen!