The brutally honest guide for leaders who need to deliver the conversations no one else will touch and come out stronger on the other side.
-- It’s the moment every leader dreads: looking a brilliant team member in the eye and saying, “This isn’t working.”
Most leadership books focus on vision, charisma, and inspiration. Very few deal with the real, messy part of leadership: the moments when managers have to deliver bad news. Whether it’s telling a high-performing employee they’ve missed out on a promotion, admitting a project has failed, or owning a decision that’s gone off the rails, these are the conversations that test the very core of leadership.
Kickstarter Chief Technology Officer Mahesh Guruswamy is tackling this gap head-on with his debut book, How to Deliver Bad News and Get Away With It.
A frank, funny, and deeply practical manual for leaders navigating the toughest conversations in management.
“There are hundreds of books on how to inspire, influence, and innovate,” says Guruswamy. “But almost no one tells you how to deliver the bad news—the thing nobody wants to say or hear. That moment defines leadership. And that’s what this book is for.”
Drawing on over 20 years of senior technology leadership at Kickstarter, Smartsheet, Kajabi, and Mosaic, Guruswamy distills two decades of lived experience into a toolkit of stories, strategies, and scripts designed for the realities of modern management.
The book addresses the gritty, often-avoided realities of leadership:
* How to break bad news without breaking trust
* How to write tough messages with clarity, not jargon
* How to lead through repeated pivots without draining morale
* How to deliver feedback upwards without self-sabotage
* How to recover when a decision turns into a Very Bad Call
Where many leadership titles present an idealised picture of flawless executives with boundless patience and charm, How to Deliver Bad News and Get Away With It acknowledges the reality: leaders are busy, human, and fallible. They don’t need perfection—they need practical support.
More Than Inspiration: A Working Manual
Unlike glossy, shelf-bound management manifestos, this book is designed to be used. It combines practical advice with humour and empathy, offering leaders both the scripts to get through high-stakes conversations and the reassurance that they’re not alone in facing them.
“This book isn’t about being a superhero,” Guruswamy explains. “It’s about being human, being honest, and still earning respect—even when you’re delivering the hardest truths.”
The book positions Guruswamy not as a distant guru but as a co-pilot—offering steady, battle-tested guidance for when managers need it most. By mixing candid storytelling with clear strategies, How to Deliver Bad News and Get Away With It helps leaders survive the hardest moments in their careers and emerge stronger on the other side.
Who Should Read It
The book is written for a wide range of leaders navigating today’s complex workplaces:
* Managers caught in “feedback purgatory,” putting off difficult conversations until it’s too late
* Founders and CTOs steering teams through uncertain pivots and high-stakes change
* First-time team leads facing tough conversations without a playbook
* Senior leaders determined to maintain trust and credibility even while delivering bad news
How to Deliver Bad News and Get Away With It is available now hrough major retailers and online platforms.
About the company: About the Author Mahesh Guruswamy is a seasoned technology executive and writer, currently serving as Chief Technology Officer at Kickstarter. Over the past two decades, he has held leadership roles at global tech companies including Smartsheet, Kajabi, and Mosaic, building and scaling teams across multiple industries and regions. A long-time mentor and essayist on leadership, Guruswamy draws on lived experience rather than theory, offering unvarnished, practical insight into the real challenges of management. He is currently working on his second book, exploring career acceleration in technology.
Contact Info:
Name: Alfie Brown
Email: Send Email
Organization: A-B Media
Address: Fountain House, 130 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 5DJ, United Kingdom
Phone: 07876586946
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfie-brown-938569242/
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-fXiX5RKiw&t=12s
Release ID: 89167887
If you come across any problems, discrepancies, or concerns related to the content contained within this press release that necessitate action or if a press release requires takedown, we strongly encourage you to reach out without delay by contacting error@releasecontact.com (it is important to note that this email is the authorized channel for such matters, sending multiple emails to multiple addresses does not necessarily help expedite your request). Our committed team will be readily accessible round-the-clock to address your concerns within 8 hours and take appropriate actions to rectify identified issues or support with press release removals. Ensuring accurate and reliable information remains our unwavering commitment.