Many leaders fear that admitting a miss will destroy a client relationship. Craig Andrews argues that delaying the truth is often far more damaging. Delivering bad news early gives customers options, reduces downstream harm, and creates an opportunity to demonstrate integrity when it matters most.

Craig shares a four-part framework for handling failure: state and own the bad news, explain what broke, describe how recurrence will be prevented, and present a concrete plan for narrowing the gap between what was promised and what will be delivered. He later put this approach into practice by opening a client presentation with the words, “We screwed up,” before walking through the cause, prevention, and recovery.

The lesson began with Siemens, where Craig’s boss knowingly overpromised and left Craig to deliver the bad news. Because Craig disclosed the problem early, Siemens was able to move costly factory time—and thanked the team for giving them the chance to adjust. Later, a Siemens engineer trusted Craig with a personal crisis, which Craig sees as evidence that honesty can deepen trust even when delivery falls short.

That trust-building discipline also shaped how Craig led his employees. Instead of shielding them from difficult conversations, he coached them to own mistakes and repair the damage. During Craig’s 2021 coma, one of those employees told clients that Craig might die, kept the business running, and lost only one client—a powerful payoff from preparing people to lead with candor before a crisis arrives.

Connect with Craig Andrews on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-andrews/.

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://pod.allies4me.com/podcast-guest/.

Want to learn more about Craig Andrews' work at allies4me? Check out his website at https://allies4me.com/.