Radical Candor: Recent Episodes
Featuring Kim Scott and Jason Rosoff, hosted by Amy Sandler, and written and produced by Brandi Neal
Moving from command-and-control to successful collaboration isn’t easy. But telling people what to do doesn’t work. Learn how to kick ass at work without losing your humanity by practicing the principles of Radical Candor. Host Amy Sandler leads discussions with Radical Candor co-founders Kim Scott and Jason Rosoff about what it means to be Radically Candid, why it’s simple but not easy to Care Personally and Challenge Directly on the daily, and why it’s worth it. Tune in to get actionable tips for doing the best work of your life and building the best relationships of your career, and don't forget to read Kim Scott's NYT and WSJ bestselling book Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity!
Welcome to season 5 of the Radical Candor podcast! On this episode, we have a montage of Radical Candor, Manipulative Insincerity and Obnoxious Aggression stories from our coaches and core team. Chances are you can relate to one or more of these stories. If you have a story to share, send it to us at podcast@radicalcandor.com.
On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy address how to respond to some specific scenarios with Radically Candid feedback that’s kind, clear, specific and sincere. If you truly want to get different results, you’re going to have to change your behavior. We know it’s hard, so we’re going to talk you through it.
We often get questions from folks who want us to talk through specific Radical Candor scenarios like how to overcome feedback hesitation or what to do when someone tells you not to bother giving feedback to someone because “that person will never change.”
Kim, Jason and Amy role-play two different Radical Candor wipeout scenarios and offer advice about what to do instead.
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist1. Don’t kick the can down the road. The cost of inaction is very real. Saving up feedback for fear of upsetting someone is going to cause more turmoil later once that person realizes they continued down the wrong path because you failed to tell them something they needed to know. There is a real benefit to giving and getting bad news early. 2. The path from Obnoxious Aggression to Manipulative Insincerity is an often traveled road for people who are frustrated at work. Instead, try getting curious, not furious, and don’t speak in absolutes. It’s impossible to know whether or not someone can change their behavior if they’ve never been given the opportunity. 3. If you’ve already read Radical Candor and want a refresher, you can learn the principles of Radical Candor by watching the new Radical Candor LIT Videobook. This hour-long adventure features interviews with folks Kim mentions in the book, animations and pictures of Kim from the way-back machine, and tips for practicing Radical Candor. Go to RadicalCandor.Com/Videobook to stream it now.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources* Giving Bad News Early Has Benefits For Relationships At Work * 3 Ways To Give Immediate Feedback & Avoid A Feedback Fail * 12 Famous Quotes That Always Get Misattributed * A Manipulative Insincerity Story * Moving From Obnoxious Aggression to Manipulative Insincerity
Does anyone actually want to be a manager of managers? And if so, what do these people actually do? On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast Kim, Jason and Amy discuss strategies for being an effective manager of managers. If you're managing people who manage other people, then you're managing managers. Whereas if you're managing individual contributors, you're managing a team.
The most significant difference when you become a manager of managers is that now you have to become a thought partner, not just on the functional expertise and the business that they're running or the product that they're building, but you also have to be a thought partner to them on how they're managing their team.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a GlanceWhen you are a manager of managers, it’s your job to make sure not only that the authority you have doesn’t go to your head, but that authority doesn’t go to the heads of the people who work for you. In other words, you want to make sure that nobody on your team, including you, has unilateral decision-making power over who gets hired, who gets promoted, and who gets fired. You want to make these decisions as a team.
As you switch from direct management of individual contributors to managing managers, you’re going to face new challenges. When you become a manager, you can’t be in the details of every decision; when you become a manager of managers you don’t even know all the decisions that are being made.
When you become a manager you can’t solve every problem, when you become a manager of managers you may not even know about the problems that are getting solved and you have to let go of control.
You can’t have a personal relationship with every person your direct reports manage — and at some point, you won’t even be able to know everyone’s name. And, people may start to see you differently — perhaps as the big intimidating boss they have to perform for versus the nice person they used to say hi to in the coffee line.
Listen to the full episode to hear the team share their experiences of navigating these changing dynamics, including how Kim used to "crank call" members of her team.
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist1. For managers of managers, here are the conditions that you need to create so those good relationships can happen on your team. You need to make explicit to the people who you're managing, that management is part of their job. You need to make sure that none of your managers have unilateral decision-making power over who gets promoted, who gets hired, and who gets fired. 2. As a manager of managers, you want to create a culture of guidance. In fact, all managers do, but specifically, as a manager, managers, remember, it's not enough to just solicit feedback. You also have to make yourself open to public criticism. You also want to design systems that are going to enable people to speak truth to power. If you want more information on how to set those up, check out season 4, episode 14. 3. Managers of managers need to build effective teams. That starts with hiring the right people and making sure that when you're hiring people, it is clear to them what management skills are going to be required. And don't forget to not only put that in the job description but to make that part of the interview process as well as the reference check process. The best tip that we can give you is to call people who have reported to that person in the past and find out what they really think of them as a manager. 4. As a manager of managers, you need to make sure that everybody's on the same page about what the goals are. And the best way to do that is with what we call a bottoms-up OKR process or a bottoms-up goal-setting process. 5. Remember, you are not the Hotel California of management — people can (and will) leave if you're not managing effectively.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources* Radical Candor Podcast: 3 Tips For Small-Team Managers * Radical Candor Podcast | Quiet Quitting Calls Out Bad Bosses * The Manager of Managers | Gallup * 5 things I learned the hard way as a manager of managers | by Rich Archbold | Medium * How to Manage Managers | HBR * As Your Team Gets Bigger, Your Leadership Style Has to Adapt | HBR * Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent: Finkelstein, Sydney: 9781591847830: Amazon.com * From Manager to Director: Guide to Managing Managers * How to Manage Managers * One-On-One Meetings: 7 Things To Know Right Now * Podcast Season 2, Episode 9: Meet Like A Boss — The 411 On 1:1s * Power Is the Great Motivator | HBR * The Manager: Master and Servant of Power | HBR * 6 Steps for Setting Measurable Goals to Avoid “Productivity Paranoia” * Enduring Love: A Novel - McEwan, Ian: Books * Measure What Matters: OKRs: The Simple Idea that Drives 10x Growth: 9780241348482: Doerr, John * How Google sets goals: OKRs / Startup Lab Workshop
What do bosses do anyways? On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, we're starting a new series to answer that question! Is it a manager’s job to go to meetings? Send emails? Tell people what to do? Are they supposed to work alongside their teams and carry part of the workload, or dream up strategies and expect other people to implement them?
At the end of the day, a boss’s job is to guide a team to achieve results. However, depending on the size of your team, that process could look very different. Today we’re going to talk about managers of small teams and we’re going to define “small” as a team of 10 people or less. Listen to learn three key things every manager of small teams needs to know.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a GlanceIn order to be successful, managers are responsible for guidance, team building and getting results.
Managers listening to this podcast and thinking, “I know I should do these things, but I don’t know how,” you’re not alone. A common issue faced by managers is that they are very likely to have been, until recently, an individual contributor who was doing excellent work. Work so good that it earned them a “promotion” to a management role.
Unfortunately, many companies fail to recognize that management is a job with discrete skills that need to be learned. In many companies, managers receive little-to-no training, and this has very real consequences.
A 2018 study by digital services firm West Monroe Partners found that 41% of small-team managers received no training before becoming managers and 42% mimicked the style of a previous manager in lieu of any training or coaching.
And if they’re mimicking bad-boss behavior because they don’t have any other models, that’s going to be a problem for the entire team.
So now you’ve got someone with no training managing a team — but the issues don’t stop there. These managers are also doing a lot of administrative tasks.
“In addition to the lack of training, managers report they’re too busy with administrative tasks to adequately oversee their team: 36% report spending three to four hours per day on administrative work. Nearly half (44%) frequently feel overwhelmed at work.”
The situation can be so unpleasant that a UK-based survey found that managers who haven’t received any management training were 36% more likely to leave their jobs in 2022 than managers who have been trained.
This isn’t just a problem for managers; it affects the entire team. The Gallup 2022 State of the Workplace report found: “Managers need to be better listeners, coaches and collaborators."
People with managers who embody these skills are noted as thriving at work. "95% of people who are thriving at work report being treated with respect all day and 87% report smiling and laughing a lot."
Listen to the full episode to get all the tips and resources!
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist1. Think about how you’re spending your time and make sure you’re focusing on managing your team. Take the time to get to know each person on your team and regularly show appreciation and support for your team’s work. 2. If you’re an individual contributor “promoted” to management, assess where you are — take a step to start building competence. Consider seeking out a mentor or coach to help you develop your management skills and read books, listen to podcasts, watch videos, etc. 3. Admit you have accountability without control. Let go of control and remember that it's part of your job to be held accountable and also hold others accountable. 4. Start by soliciting feedback. You need to find out what other people think needs to happen and what you are doing both right and wrong.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources Tactics for Successfully Managing a Small Team * How to manage a small team? : r/AskEngineers * 4 Ways To Help New Managers Succeed | Radical Candor * 6 Key Lessons For Every New Manager | Radical Candor * Untrained managers more likely to change jobs in 2022 - Workplace Insight * Research Shows That Your First-Time Managers Aren't Ready to Lead. Now, What? * Companies are overlooking a primary area for growth and efficiency: Their managers | West Monroe * Don't Care About Your Employees? They May Be Quiet Quitting * 3 Strategies for Managing an Understaffed Team * 12 Small Team Benefits To Consider When Building Teams | Indeed.com * Key Differences In Communicating To Small Teams And Large Teams * Radical Candor Podcast: How To Use The Get Sht Done Wheel * Approved Resources And Courses For Kim Scott's Radical Candor * State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report | Gallup
On this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy discuss the message quiet quitting is loudly sending to bad bosses and managers of managers.
We know that relationships don’t scale, but culture does. This means that while you can’t have a close relationship with every person who reports to the people who report to you, practicing Radical Candor with the people you manage can impact how they interact with the people they manage and so on.
On the other hand, if toxic stew is flowing from the top and being passed down from executives to managers of managers to individual contributors it should come as no surprise that people in this type of environment are disengaged at work.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode at a GlanceA recent piece in Harvard Business Review by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman Quiet Quitting Is About Bad Bosses, Not Bad Employees shares data they gathered on almost 3,000 managers who were rated, by five direct reports on average, on two data points:
- Employees’ ratings of their manager’s ability to “balance getting results with a concern for others’ needs.”
- Employees’ ratings of the extent to which their “work environment is a place where people want to go the extra mile” — what they called “discretionary effort.
Managers who were rated the highest at balancing results with relationships saw 62% of their direct reports as willing to give extra effort, while only 3% were quietly quitting. Whereas the least effective managers had three to four times as many people who fall in the “quiet quitting” category compared to the most effective leaders.
They found that: “Quiet quitting is usually less about an employee’s willingness to work harder and more creatively, and more about a manager’s ability to build a relationship with their employees where they are not counting the minutes until quitting time.”
On this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy pose a few questions to managers of managers:
- Are you holding managers accountable for the engagement of their team members?
- Are you looking at relative engagement scores? Even if engagement scores for your company are lower than average deviations from the mean within your organization matter.
If you have managers reporting to you who are underperforming on team engagement in comparison to their peers, you should be treating this as an urgent situation.
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist1. Get curious about why some people on your team are disengaged. If you have managers reporting to you who are underperforming on team engagement in comparison to their peers, you should be treating this as an urgent situation. Ask yourself whether or not you have truly fostered a culture of Radical Candor. Do your employees feel valued, cared for and appreciated? Are their roles clearly defined? Are there opportunities for them to learn and grow? Do they feel like they can come to you with concerns? If the answer is no, you need to focus on building a culture of trust. 2. Have “speak-truth-to-power” meetings. If you’re a manager of managers, it’s difficult to have visibility into every single thing that’s going on. Speak-truth-to-power meetings are an effective way to get clear information from the people who report to the people you manage. 3. Remember, relationships don’t scale, but culture does. This means that while you can’t have a close relationship with every person who reports to the people who report to you, practicing Radical Candor with the people you manage can impact how they interact with the people they manage and so on. Without a culture of trust, which has been identified as the most important factor in determining engagement, you’ve already failed. 4. Sometimes it’s not you, it’s every authority figure ever. As the boss getting feedback from employees you might often feel like a projection screen for everyone’s unresolved authority issues. When it comes time to give feedback to your boss, it can be helpful to remember that. Take a step back from both roles and try to see everyone you're working with as simply people. When you remove hierarchy from the situation, it all looks and feels much more straightforward.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources* Quiet Quitting Is About Bad Bosses, Not Bad Employees * Is Quiet Quitting Real? * How to Manage Managers * 6 Ways to Roll Out Radical Candor Like a Boss * 2 Questions To Ask To Avoid Working For A Bad Boss * Skip Level Meetings: A Quick Start Guide * The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt: Sutton, Robert I.: 9781328695918 * Acceptance: A Memoir Hardcover - Nietfeld, Emi
Once your idea has been implemented, you probably think you're done with this whole Get Sh*t Done Wheel thing — but there’s one more step, Learn. On this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy talk about how creating a culture of learning can make it safe for people to fail, help mitigate future mistakes and ensure everyone knows how to repeat success. Sounds simple, right? Not so fast. There are two things that can get in the way of learning. Listen to find out what they are!
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a GlanceKim, Jason and Amy discuss why it’s important to learn from mistakes and successes alike to keep improving. And why denial is actually the more common reaction to imperfect implementation than learning.
Let’s face it — no one wants to admit they have an ugly baby, but not admitting it doesn’t mean it’s not true.
There are two main barriers to learning:
- The Pressure to Be ConsistentYou obviously can’t change course like this lightly, and if you do, you need to be able to explain clearly and convincingly why things have changed. Revisit the listen, clarify, debate, and decide steps with an inner circle.
When it was time to persuade the broader team again after you've reached a new conclusion, it is important to take a deep breath and share, patiently and repeatedly, how you got there, and to call out the change in direction explicitly.
- BurnoutSometimes we’re overwhelmed by our work and personal lives, and these are the moments when it is hardest to learn from our results and to start the whole cycle over again.
In 2019 — before the pandemic even began — burnout was officially recognized as a work-related phenomenon by the World Health Organization and characterized by 3 dimensions:
- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
- reduced professional efficacy.
Kim says, “The essence of leadership is not getting overwhelmed by circumstances.” How do people walk this line, and how can managers set expectations for their teams to help them avoid burning out? Listen to the episode to learn more!
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist1. Sometimes you have to say whoops-a-daisy. Don’t let the pressure to be consistent keep you from acknowledging when things could have gone better. If you have to change course, you need to be able to explain clearly and convincingly why things have changed. This often means revisiting the listen, clarify, debate, and decide steps of the Get Shit Done Wheel. 2. Make it safe for everyone to fail and create a culture that fosters a positive relationship between learning from failure and self-development. You can only accomplish this if you’ve built a trusting relationship with each person reporting to you, and there can only be real trust when people feel free at work and everyone has a safety net. 3. Show up for yourself. Put the things you need to do for yourself on your calendar, just as you would an important meeting. Don’t blow off those meetings with yourself or let others schedule over them any more than you would a meeting with your boss. 4. Make workflows and learning visible using tools like Kanban boards and by “walking around” the office. If you’re virtual, you can check in using a collaboration tool like Joyous. 5. Quantify the benefits of what you’ve learned. This allows you to celebrate failure along with success and it also destigmatizes failure.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources Radical Candor Podcast: How To Use The Get Sht Done Wheel * 2 Reasons We Stop Learning In Our Careers | Radical Candor * Don’t Be Afraid to Fail Because You Can Learn From It! How Intrinsic Motivation Leads to Enhanced Self-Development and Benevolent Leadership as a Boundary Condition - PMC * Burnout may be changing your brain. Here's what to do * How to Beat Burnout — Without Quitting Your Job - The New York Times * Burn-out an "occupational phenomenon": International Classification of Diseases * The Backlash Against Quiet Quitting Is Getting Loud - WSJ * 6 Tips for Navigating a Work Martyr Culture * The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth: Edmondson, Amy C.: 9781119477242
Once everyone is on board with your idea, it’s time for action, which brings us to step 6 of the Get Shit Done Wheel. On this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy discuss the good, the bad and the ugly as it relates to the implementation of that decision you’ve just persuaded everyone to get behind. Listen to learn how to toggle between leading and implementing personally. You can't abandon the first for the second. You have to integrate the two.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a GlanceIf you become a conductor, you need to keep playing your instrument. If you become a sales manager, you need to keep going on sales calls yourself. If you manage a team of plumbers, fix some faucets.
Of course, you need to spend time listening to people in 1:1s, leading debates, and so on.
But you need to learn to toggle between leading and implementing personally. Don’t abandon the first for the second; integrate the two.
If you get too far away from the work your team is doing, you won’t understand their ideas well enough to help them clarify, to participate in debates, to know which decisions to push them to make, to teach them to be more persuasive.
The GSD wheel will grind to a halt if you don’t understand intimately the “stuff ” your team is trying to get done.
As the boss, part of your job is to take a lot of the “collaboration tax” on yourself so that your team can spend more time implementing. The responsibilities you have as a boss take up a tremendous amount of time.
One of the hardest things about being a boss is balancing these responsibilities with the work you need to do personally in your area of expertise. There are four things to know about how to get this balance right (see the steps in the tips below).
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist1. Don’t waste your team’s time. Allow space for people to get the work done by limiting low-value interactions and interruptions while also making yourself available to offer coaching and guidance as needed. 2. Keep the dirt under your fingernails. Be a thought partner who thinks of themselves as someone who is alongside their employees listening, advising and helping versus someone who is above them or their work. 3. Block time to implement. Put implementation time on your calendar and treat it as you would any other important meeting or task. Don’t allow people to appropriate your implementation time for something they think is more important. 4. Fight meeting proliferation. Everybody hates the meeting that could have been an email. Before you schedule a meeting, ask yourself if it’s really necessary, and if it is — only include the people who are critical. Perhaps most important, don’t schedule a meeting over someone’s implementation time.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources 4 Ways To Persuade Others You’ve Made The Best Decisions * Successfully Implement Your Ideas At Work In 4 Easy Steps * Think Time: 6 Ways To Leverage This Untapped Tool * If we’re so busy, why isn’t anything getting done? | McKinsey * Radical Candor Podcast: Are You A Micro Or Absentee Manager? * No Task Left Behind? Examining the Nature of Fragmented Work * 3 Ways to Bounce Back After a Work Interruption | Duke Today * You can learn more about the implementation-making process discussed on this episode in chapters 4 & 8 of Radical Candor*
On this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast the team explains that once a decision is made, you’ve got to get people on board, which brings us to step 5 of the Get Sh*t Done Wheel — Persuade. While getting others to accept your idea might feel like a foregone conclusion, persuasion isn’t easy, and it’s important to get it right.
What’s more, persuasion at this stage of the GSD Wheel can feel unnecessary and make the decider resentful of people on the team who aren’t fully in agreement. Kim, Jason and Amy discuss why expecting others to implement a decision without being persuaded that it’s the right thing to do is a recipe for terrible results and why it's vital to persuade people (like your friend's Uncle Scrammy) that you've done your homework.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a GlanceThe decider has painstakingly gone through the listen, clarify, and debate steps and made a decision. Why doesn’t everyone else get why it’s obvious we should do this — or at least be willing to fall in line?
This step of the Get Shit Done Wheel — Persuade — is based on Aristotle’s framework and the team outline 4 steps for the persuader to follow to get everyone’s buy-in.
- Credibility: Demonstrate expertise and humility when persuading.
- Logic: Show your work when persuading your team.
- Emotion: The listener’s emotions, not the speaker’s when trying to persuade.
- All-hands Meetings: Bring others along.
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist1. Remember, when persuading others to adopt your decision it’s important to focus on the listener’s emotions, not the speaker’s. While you might have a strong emotional connection to a decision, if you fail to take into account your listener’s emotions, too, you won’t be persuasive. 2. To be perceived as credible you’re going to have authentically demonstrate both expertise and humility. And in order to truly demonstrate humility, you need to be flexible, curious and acknowledge the contributions of others. 3. Show your work! Make sure you demonstrate — in a tangible way — how you came to your decision by showing your work. 4. Hold an all-hands meeting to bring others along. Make sure your meetings include both a presentation and a Q&A.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources Radical Candor Podcast Season 4, Episode 2: Use the GSD Wheel So No One Feels Sad, Bad or Left Out * How to Persuade Others You’ve Made the Right Decisions * Overcoming the Shadow of Expertise: How Humility and Learning Goal Orientation Help Knowledge Leaders Become More Flexible * Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Aristotle Logic, Science, and Dialectic * You can learn more about the decision-making process discussed on this episode in chapters 4 & 8 of Radical Candor*
On this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy discuss how to make a decision after you've listened, clarified and debated your idea. Step 4 of the Get Shit Done Wheel, decide, is all about pushing the decisions into the facts.
The Radical Candor Podcast team outlines 4 steps to follow when making decisions once you have shoved all ego — especially your own — out of the way. They also talk about the pitfalls of unconscious bias, the perils of skipping steps 1-3 and how to avoid garbage can decision-making.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a GlanceOnce you have gone through the listening, clarifying and debating spokes of the Get Shit Done Wheel, you have likely lined up decisions and facts and (hopefully) shoved all ego — especially your own — out of the way.
Now is the time, as Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey put it, to “push the decisions into the facts.” Or as Kim says — how to help a team make the best possible decisions — or to “always get it right.”
Easier said than done. In a recent McKinsey survey, 61 percent of executives said that at least half the time they spent making decisions, much of it surely spent in meetings, was ineffective. And just 37 percent of respondents said their organizations’ decisions were both high-quality and timely.
So, how do you ensure you're making the right decisions in a timely manner? The best bosses often do not decide themselves, but rather create a clear decision-making process that empowers people closest to the facts to make as many decisions as possible. Not only does that result in better decisions, but it also results in better morale.
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist1. When making decisions, you’re not the decider (usually). Remember, kick-ass bosses don’t grab decisions for themselves, but rather create a clear decision-making process that empowers people closest to the facts to make as many decisions as possible rather than fostering a culture of garbage can decision-making. 2. The decider should get facts, not recommendations before making decisions. Be aware and accept that we all bring biases to the table in every decision we make. Create a culture where it’s safe for people to bring “unwelcome” facts to the table. 3. Go spelunking before making decisions. To mitigate bias as much as possible, make sure you’re getting to the source of the facts versus making decisions based on ego-driven or emotional recommendations. 4. Finally, hold a Big Decision Meeting and make sure once the decision is final a careful summary of the meeting is distributed to all relevant parties.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources Radical Candor Podcast Season 4, Episode 2: Use the GSD Wheel So No One Feels Sad, Bad or Left Out * 4 Things to Consider When Making Decisions to Get Shit Done In 2022 * McKinsey Quarterly: Want a better decision? Plan a better meeting * Board of Innovation:16 cognitive biases that can kill your decision making * The Decision Lab: Why we tend to rely heavily upon the first piece of information we receive * Harvard Business Review: The Hidden Traps of Decision Making * Wikipedia: Garbage Can Model * A Garbage Can Model of Organization Choice * Primer on Decision Making: How Decisions Happen by James G. March * You can learn more about the decision-making process discussed on this episode in chapters 4 & 8 of Radical Candor*
On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Amy and Jason discuss managers who have low, almost non-existent involvement in their team’s work, aka absentee managers; those with extremely (maybe excruciatingly) close involvement, aka micromanagers; and thought partners — the ones who empower, enable and encourage their teams to do the best work of their lives. While a lot of us have tendencies to act in absentee or micromanager mode, it’s hard for us to want to look at ourselves that way.
Listen to this episode if you want to understand how to be a true thought partner.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a GlanceOne of the best ways to keep the people on your team engaged is by actively partnering with them.
To help you figure out when you’re being a good partner rather than slipping into micromanagement or absentee management, Kim developed a simple chart to help you better partner with the people who report to you.
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist1. In order to be a true thought partner with each of your employees you need to be involved, listen with the intent to understand versus respond and ask relevant questions. 2. Share what you know and ask questions when you don’t. Remember, a true thought partner thinks of themselves as someone who is alongside their employees listening, advising and helping. 3. What matters is how much your direct reports think of you as a thought partner. Actively solicit feedback from the people who work for you to make sure you are indeed practicing thought partnership versus micro or absentee management.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources* Are you an Absentee Manager, a Micromanager, or a Thought Partner? * Micromanagement, Absentee Management or Thought Partnership — Which One Do You Practice? * Is Micromanaging A Form Of Bullying? Here Are 3 Things You Should Know * 3 Lessons On Coaching From an Oura Ring * Help! My Boss is a Micromanager * Help! My Boss is an Absentee Manager
On this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, we’re going to talk about the steps to follow for a successful debating process. If you skip the debate phase, you’ll make worse decisions, you’ll be unable to persuade everyone who needs to implement, and you’ll ultimately slow down or grind to a halt. Kim, Jason, Amy and producer Brandi discuss a time when a debate went awry and what they should have done instead.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a Glance
Big Debate Meetings should be reserved for debate, but not decisions, on major issues facing the team.
They serve three purposes:
- They lower tension.
- They allow you to slow down key decisions when appropriate.
- They foster a larger culture of debate.
The norms of these meetings are also pretty straightforward.
- Make it clear that the goal of debate is to work together to come up with the best answer. There should be no “winners” or “losers.”
- Encourage people to come with data versus recommendations and to not be afraid to disagree with one another.
- The sole product of the debate should be a careful summary of the facts and issues that emerged, a clearer definition of the choices going forward, and a recommendation to keep debating or to move on to a decision.
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist1. Check your ego at the door. Make sure that individual egos and self-interest don’t get in the way of an objective quest for the best answer. Nothing is a bigger time-sucker or blocker to getting it right than ego. On a broad level, this means intervening when you start to sense that people are thinking, “I’m going to win this argument,” or “my idea versus your idea,” or “my recommendation versus your recommendation,” or “my team feels . . .” 2. Pause for emotions and exhaustion. If you don’t, people will make a decision so that they can go home; or worse, a huge fight stemming from raw emotions will break out. 3. Ask participants to switch roles halfway through each debate. This makes sure that people are listening to each other and helps them keep focused on coming up with the best answer and let go of egos and hierarchical positions.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources* Radical Candor Podcast Season 4, Episode 2: Use the GSD Wheel So No One Feels Sad, Bad or Left Out * 6 Steps to Successfully Debating (Not Killing) Ideas * Invitational Rhetoric — Sonja Foss and Cindy Griffin
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On this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, we're taking a break from our GSD Wheel series and welcoming back to the podcast Russ Laraway, author of the book When They Win, You Win: Being a Great Manager is Simpler Than You Think, coming out on June 7, 2022. You can pre-order it now! You likely know Russ best as the OG co-host with Kim of season one of the Radical Candor Podcast.
Russ is currently chief people officer at Goodwater Capital; and also is the creator of Career Conversations; which is covered in Radical Candor, and to which Russ dedicates nearly 100 pages of his new book. Kim and Russ discuss how to make every manager (measurably) great and to rid the world of assclown managers everywhere.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a GlanceThe world has conspired to confuse the average manager. Despite near-limitless resources — books, blogs, podcasts — that purport to teach us how to be great managers, the reality is that managers globally aren’t really any better than they were 30 years ago. (The evidence is this: as more evidence emerges that the manager is most responsible for employee engagement, global engagement is still at just 15% and 33% in the U.S.)
Managers are struggling due to a lack of regular formal check-ins on how they are doing as a manager. Their bosses have almost no context on how they are leading their people and therefore can struggle to coach them. Kim and Russ discuss:
- Why managers are failing, and no one is helping.
- What we need is to learn to lead in a way that measurably and predictably leads to more engaged employees and better business results.
- We need a simpler and more coherent leadership standard, something with quantitative backing that shows it works.
- People just want to do great work and be totally psyched while doing it.
- People deserve to be led well.
- The art of Continue Coaching.
Pre-Order the New Book from Career Conversations Expert Russ Laraway
In When They Win, You Win, Russ Laraway, the chief people officer at Goodwater Capital who also developed Career Conversations, provides a simple, coherent, and complete leadership standard that teaches managers how to lead in a way that measurably and predictably delivers more engaged employees and better business results and show organizational planners how to make their managers great!
The book identifies The Big 3, or three key elements: clear direction-setting, frequent coaching and active engagement with employees on their long-term career goals. Russ also dedicates around 100 pages of the book to Career Conversations! Pre-order now >>
It's time for part two of how to clarify your thinking for yourself and others as part of the Get Sh*t Done Wheel (listen to part one). On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy discuss how to use staff meetings and think time as ways to clarify your ideas.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a Glance An effective staff meeting has three goals: it reviews how things have gone the previous week, allows people to share important updates, and forces the team to clarify the most important decisions and debates for the coming week.
That’s it. It shouldn’t be the place to have debates or make decisions. Your job is to establish a consistent agenda, insist that people stick to it, and corral people who go on for too long or who go off on tangents.
Here’s the agenda that Kim has found to be most effective:
- Learn: review key metrics (20 minutes)
- Listen: put updates in a shared document (15 minutes)
- Clarify: identify key decisions & debates (30 minutes)
In Radical Candor, Kim writes: “In addition to all your regularly planned meetings, people want to talk to you about this or that; urgent matters will arise that you must deal with. When are you supposed to find time to clarify your own thinking, or to help the people who work for you clarify theirs?”
“My advice is that you schedule in some ‘Think Time’ [on your calendar], and hold that think time sacred. Let people know that they cannot ever schedule over it. Get really, seriously angry if they try. Encourage everyone on your team to do the same.”
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist 1. Avoid the fundamental attribution error by focusing on specifics, not attributes. Instead of saying (or thinking) “What an idiot,” be very clear about what went wrong. Try the CORE model — Context, Observation, Result, nExt stEps. Focus on helping the person fix the problem by providing specifics they can act on, rather than criticizing personality traits that they can’t alter. 2. A well-run meeting can save you time by alerting you to problems, sharing updates efficiently, and getting you all on the same page about what the week’s shared priorities are. Remember, timeboxing is your friend. Take 20 minutes to learn, 15 minutes to listen and 30 minutes to clarify. 3. Schedule Think Time away from your desk. Think Time is a mix of focused thinking and mind-wandering that allows for the kind of problem-solving, creativity and innovative mindset needed to tackle those difficult problems. Try taking a walk and removing distractions.
This is part 1 of 2 episodes about clarifying ideas.
Once you have created a culture of listening, the next step in the Radical Candor Get Sh*t Done Wheel is to push yourself and your direct reports to understand and convey thoughts and ideas more clearly. Trying to solve a problem that hasn’t been clearly defined is not likely to result in a good solution; debating a half-baked idea is likely to discourage it. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy discuss the two most important things to do when clarifying an idea.
Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a Glance As we discussed in our overview GSD episode of the Radical Candor podcast, it’s important to push the people on your team to clarify their thinking and ideas so that you don’t “squish” their best thinking or ignore problems that are bothering them.
It’s not just important to understand new ideas clearly; it’s equally important, and often more difficult, to understand the people to whom your team will have to explain the ideas clearly.
The two most important things to do when clarifying an idea are to first get clear about it in your own mind by creating a safe space for people to discuss and nurture ideas, and second to make sure you can explain the idea in a way that is crystal clear to others.
Radical Candor Podcast Checklist 1. Use your 1:1 meetings to create a safe space for your team to nurture and clarify their ideas. If you don’t understand an idea, chances are others won’t understand it either. Spend a lot of time getting clear in your own head about an idea before you present it to others. Define, don’t refine. 2. As the boss, you’re the editor, not the writer. Help your team members clarify their ideas before they are presented to others by choosing what to eliminate and what to emphasize based on the audience that will be hearing the idea. 3. Encourage people time to brainstorm and explore ideas asynchronously before bringing them to the larger group. Set rules for brainstorming sessions, like we build and don’t tear down. Don’t make any decisions in the session. Set a time limit because brainstorming can't go on forever.
Radical Candor Podcast Resources * Get Stuff Done: 2 Ways to Use Radical Candor to Clarify Thoughts and Ideas * Radical Candor Podcast Season 4, Episode 2: Use the GSD Wheel So No One Feels Sad, Bad or Left Out * Radical Candor Podcast Season 4, Episode 4: Get Shit Done Step 1 — Create a Culture of Listening * The Wall Street Journal: Brainstorming Works Best if People Scramble For Ideas on Their Own * CNBC: Why the most innovative people don’t use brainstorming meetings * Fast Company: 10 New Rules For Brainstorming Without Alienating Introverts
Our next several episodes of the Radical Candor podcast are going to be shorter explorations of the nuts-and-bolts details about each step of the Get Shit Done Wheel. First up is listening. Kim, Jason and Amy discuss how to create a culture of listening because if you can get your team members to listen to one another, they’ll fix things that you as the boss didn’t even know were broken.
On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy discuss one of the most perplexing management dilemmas you might experience: when a person who ought to be taking on more and more responsibility and performing better every day is instead doing the opposite. This person is doing excellent work on a steep growth trajectory — maybe they even want to be your boss someday — and you’ve put in charge of the most important work or assigned them to solve your most difficult problems because they’re just that good. So why are they flailing instead of flying? We’ve seen this happen for five different reasons. Plus, organizations we're supporting for humanitarian relief in Ukraine.
As we continue into 2022, or more accurately what feels like the third year of 2020, the mere idea of trying to get stuff done at work likely feels overwhelming. We've got you. On this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy talk about the Get Sh*t Done Wheel, a step-by-step process that can help make getting things accomplished much easier. The GSD Wheel has 7 steps: Listen, Clarify, Debate, Decide, Persuade, Execute and Learn. When run effectively, the GSD Wheel will enable your team to achieve more collectively than anyone could ever dream of achieving individually.
Radical Candor happens at the intersection Care Personally and Challenge Directly. On this mini-episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim tells the "Um Story," which outlines exactly what we mean when we say Care Personally and Challenge Directly. Kim explains why the feedback she received from her boss was so effective and led to even more success.
Building a team is hard. But as we’re seeing now during the Great Resignation, failure to spend time building and investing in a team can have disastrous consequences. In order to be successful, this means developing people on both steep and gradual growth trajectories, or as we like to say at Radical Candor, people in both rockstar mode and superstar mode. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy discuss how to balance growth and stability by developing people who are in both superstar and rock star modes.
Ruinous Empathy is what happens when you want to spare someone’s short-term feelings, so you don’t tell them something they need to know. You Care Personally, but fail to Challenge Directly. It’s praise that isn’t specific enough to help the person understand what was good, or criticism that is sugar-coated and unclear. Or simply silence. Ruinous Empathy may feel nice or safe, but is ultimately unhelpful and even damaging. This is a feedback fail. In this Radical Candor podcast mini-episode, Kim talks about the biggest feedback fail of her career.
If you're in the market for a new job and you are lucky enough to have multiple offers, or you’re in a position where you can afford to wait for the right opportunity, you don’t have to pay the asshole tax. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy talk about how to suss out whether your potential new boss is going to help you move toward the direction of your dreams or get in your way. Listen now to learn how to find a Radically Candid boss.
There is an order of operations to practicing the principles of Radical Candor. The first thing to do is to ask for criticism, especially if you’re the boss. But how can you do this in a way that's not awkward? On the latest mini-episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, Kim explains how to solicit feedback with a simple four-step process.
You’ve likely heard about the Great Resignation — perhaps you’re even one of the millions of people who’ve bid their jobs farewell over the past few months. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy talk about how bad bosses, lack of transparency and poor communication are leading to a mass exodus of mid-level workers. How can you retain your team? Listen to find out how a series of small adjustments can help!
There are a few things we suggest for folks looking to give Radically Candid Feedback, our HIP and CORE framework. Kim breaks it down on our latest mini-episode of the Radical Candor podcast. Here’s a way to think about how to be more kind and clear with criticism and more specific and sincere with praise. Radical Candor is HIP: Humble, Helpful, Immediate, In person (or on video), Private criticism / Public praise and Not about Personality. Radically Candid praise and criticism both include caring and a challenge. In order to make sure your praise tells the other person what was good and shows them what to do more of and your criticism shows them what to do less of, use the CORE method. C — Context (Cite the specific situation), O — Observation (Describe what was said or done), R — Result (What is the most meaningful consequence to you and to them?) E — nExt stEps (What are the expected next steps?). Read the show notes >>
It’s a lot easier to lead by example than it is to change other people’s behavior. If you want to encourage feedback between the people on your team or at your organization, you’re going to have to create an environment where people feel safe and encouraged to give real feedback. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy talk about how to encourage feedback between others so you can keep this whole Radical Candor thing going after you've read the book, listened to a keynote or taken a workshop. Read the show notes >> Show the Radical Candor store >>
When giving feedback, you should expect emotion. Even when you don’t personalize, it’s personal. That’s why you should eliminate the phrase, “Don’t take it personally” from your vocabulary. In this Radical Candor podcast mini-episode, Kim explains why It’s futile to say in response to emotion, “Don’t take it personally!” Part of your job as a boss (and as a human being) is to deal with emotional responses, not to dismiss them or pretend they’re not there or avoid them. View the show notes >>
We get a lot of questions about how folks can practice Radical Candor with their bosses as many people are reluctant to give feedback to their managers. It's true that it can be really daunting, and a little risky, to practice Radical Candor with your boss, but it’s such an important skill. If you can share feedback with your boss, you’ll have a much stronger working relationship, enjoy your work more, and be able to do better work together. So, how do you do it? On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast Kim, Jason and Amy discuss clearing the cruft and the art of upwards feedback. View the show notes >>
On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Amy and Jason discuss what Kim refers to in Radical Candor as “the problem with passion.” You’ve likely heard some form of the phrase, “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” But, should your job and your passion be the same thing? What’s more, is it a manager’s responsibility to ensure each person who reports to them is passionate about their position? Listen to find out! Read the show notes >>
Most everyone has had a boss who failed at performance development—helping people on their team grow and move forward in their careers. The way you think about developing the skills of the people in your organization and how you think about performance management must be aligned. It is a manager’s job to both help each person on their team develop and grow in their career, and also to transparently assessing the performance of each person, commonly called performance management. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Amy and Jason talk about why you can’t have effective performance reviews if you’re not also practicing performance development. Read the show notes >>
According to research from Gallup, less than 15% of managers feel confident that the feedback they provide to employees is effective and only 26% of employees say the feedback they receive from their managers is helpful. Sound familiar? If you're forgetting the helpful part of Radical Candor, your feedback is probably falling flat. On the second mini-episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim explains why Radical Candor is helpful and talks about the helpful feedback she got from a complete stranger that gave her words to live by: It's not mean, it's clear. Read the show notes >>
With more teams working remotely over the past year than ever before, we've received a few questions from folks about how to practice Radical Candor in remote workplaces. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy talk about how to give feedback to remote employees, what works for the remote Radical Candor team and why it's important to allow your workers time to grieve and heal from the trauma of the past 18 months. Read the show notes >>
Welcome to the Radical Candor podcast's first mini-episode. We'll be posting these bite-sized 5-10 minute mini Radical Candor podcast episodes between regular episodes. These quick hits will feature Kim Scott, Radical Candor author and co-founder, giving actionable tips that allow you to put specific parts of Radical Candor into action immediately. In this first mini-episode, Kim breaks down the principles of Radical Candor in six minutes. Radical Candor is Caring Personally while Challenging Directly. At its core, Radical Candor is guidance and feedback that’s both kind and clear, specific and sincere.
The Workplace Bullying Institute describes workplace bullying as: “Repeated mistreatment of an employee by one or more employees; abusive conduct that is: threatening, humiliating, or intimidating, work sabotage, or verbal abuse.” In its 2021 survey, the WBI noted that 43% of remote employees reported being bullied at work with 50% of that bullying taking place in meetings. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Amy and Jason talk about combatting bullying in remote work environments. See the show notes >>
Do you ever wonder how the feedback you give others is landing? How about your reaction to the feedback you're receiving? This giving-and-getting feedback stuff can be tricky. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Amy and Jason talk about how to gauge feedback. In other words, how does the feedback that you give land for the other person? One of the things that we'd like to say is that Radical Candor is measured, not at the speaker's mouth, but at the listener's ear. And, this applies to the feedback you give as well as the feedback you get. Read the show notes >>
On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, we're bringing back our Radically Candid Conversations series. Amy talks to Kim Scott about her new book Just Work: Get Sh*t Done, Fast & Fair , and her new company Just Work that she's launching with Trier Bryant. Kim and Trier break down how to recognize, address and eliminate bias, prejudice and bullying in the workplace to create more just working environments. Buy the book, learn about the company and listen to the podcast to learn why just work environments aren't just the right thing to do, they're also good for business. Read the show notes, order the book and download the transcript >>
On this week's episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Amy and Jason discuss why it's so important to share your stories with your team. Show some vulnerability. Your personal stories will explain, better than any management theory, what you really mean and show why you really mean it. That’s why Kim tells all those personal stories in Radical Candor. Your stories will mean a lot more to your team than other people’s stories do because they mean something to you. So, what makes a good story, and what's appropriate to share? Amy and Jason break it down. See the transcript and show notes: https://www.radicalcandor.com/podcast/share-your-radical-candor-stories/
Kim writes in Radical Candor that Apple CEO Tim Cook is a master of silence, a quiet listener. She describes Steve Jobs as a loud listener. What's the difference between quiet and loud listening? On the first episode of the Radical Candor podcast season 3, Kim, Jason and Amy debate the merits of both loud and quiet listening Kim experienced firsthand while working with Steve Jobs and Tim Cook at Apple. Is quiet listening creepy? Is loud listening aggressive? Listen to the Radical Candor podcast to find out! Read the show notes for actionable Radical Candor tips and more information about quiet and loud listening: https://www.radicalcandor.com/podcast/quiet-or-loud-listener
Whether you’re the one getting emotional or you’re giving someone feedback and they react with unexpected emotion, it’s important to recognize that while you can’t control or manage other people’s emotions, you can manage your emotional reactions at work. On the final episode of season 2 of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Amy and Jason talk about how to navigate emotional reactions at work. The worst thing you can do is ignore emotional reactions. Emotions like anger, sadness and fear are part of the human condition, and people shouldn’t have to leave their humanity at home when they come to work.
We’re offering Radical Candor podcast listeners 10% off our self-paced e-course and workplace comedy series, The Feedback Loop, starring Kim Scott and David Alan Grier. Go to radicalcandor.com/services and enter the promo code FEEDBACK at checkout.
How can you get your employees more engaged at work if they're not invested in the company long term, and is it your obligation to be Radically Candid with a peer at work who you know is lying? On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Amy and Jason answer listener questions, discuss their stints working in food service (their experiences involve mayonnaise and organized crime) and muse whether or not people can be more like Clay Christensen. See the show notes: www.radicalcandor.com/podcast/peer-to-peer-feedback/
Manipulative Insincerity is what happens when you neither Care Personally nor Challenge Directly. It’s praise that is non-specific and insincere, or criticism that is neither clear nor kind. It’s the kind of backstabbing, political, passive aggressive behavior that might be fun to tell stories about but makes for a toxic workplace, ruining relationships and ruining work.
Our podcast series, “Radically Candid Conversations,” features experts and guests who help us learn, reflect and put our insights into action. This episode of the Radical Candor podcast features Debora Spar, a Harvard Business School professor and former Barnard College president. Kim talks to Debora about her new book Work Mate Marry Love: How Machines Shape Our Human Destiny. Kim and Debora discuss the intersections of technology and human relationships.
Kim and Jason answer listener questions and share their experiences about being a boss who's younger than their direct reports and having their wings clipped by an absentee manager who isn't invested in their success. They also agree that chair-throwing management styles aren't an effective way to get things done (as Kim learned when she threw her bike helmet at a window when dealing with a bad boss at a former job).
Our podcast series, “Radically Candid Conversations,” features experts and guests who will help us learn, reflect and put our insights into action. This episode features Annie Jean-Baptiste, head of product inclusion at Google and author of Building For Everyone: Expand Your Market With Design Practices From Google's Product Inclusion Team. Kim and Annie discuss how to build inclusive products, teams and experiences.
If someone has approached you and said, "In the spirit of Radical Candor ..." and then proceeded to act like a total jerk, you've experienced how some people use Radical Candor to justify being their worst selves. This behavior is not Radical Candor; it's what we call Obnoxious Aggression. Kim, Jason and Amy agree that nobody should have to pay the asshole tax or work for a seagull swoop-and-poop boss. They also explain why Radical Candor is actually compassionate candor versus a license to act like a jerk.
If you're a boss, 1:1 meetings with your direct reports are a must-do. The purpose of a 1:1 meeting is to listen and clarify — to understand what direction each person working for you wants to head in, and what is blocking them. These meetings are your single best opportunity to listen, really listen, to the people on your team to make sure you understand their perspective on what’s working and what’s not working. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Amy and Jason share tips about how to have effective 1:1s, even when you can't be together in person, and Kim sings a few notes from the Hall and Oats song "One On One."
Being the boss doesn’t mean you automatically get respect from people, but the authority does have an automatic impact on what people will say to you. Unfortunately, people are primed to mistrust you based on all the preconceived notions against bosses. As the boss, you’ll tend to get more flattery than critical feedback that can help you learn and grow. Kim, Jason and Amy talk about how bosses can get real talk from employees by asking a go-to question.
Kim, Jason and Amy discuss how doing less can lead to more success. Kim recommends creating a proactive forbearance list where you list all of the things you're not going to do. Instead of feeling guilty about not doing the things on your list, celebrate them. This allows you to focus on the things you actually need to get done now. In addition, Jason explains the spoon theory and Amy talks Radical Dandor.
Radical Candor readers regularly reach out to us for advice about how to Care Personally and Challenge Directly. On this episode, Amy and Jason shed some light on how to give upwards feedback, how to give feedback to direct reports without making them develop a fear of coffee, how introverts can manage expectations about impromptu feedback, and how to Care Personally about someone you have nothing in common with.
Our new podcast series, “Radically Candid Conversations,” features experts and guests who will help us learn, reflect, and put our insights into action. Our second episode features Tiffani Lee, a partner at the law firm Holland & Knight, who recently wrote in an article about addressing racial injustice for Law360: "Our response to the grave injustice of this moment must be informed by Radical Candor." In this discussion, Kim and Tiffani explore how practicing Radical Candor can be a helpful framing when addressing systemic racism; why it’s so important to have the difficult conversations so many of us were trained not to have in the workplace; the importance of metrics and storytelling in creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace; and what we all can learn, whatever industry we’re in, from lawyers and law firms working to create more just workplaces.
Our first discussion with Kim Scott and Dr. A. Breeze Harper, Ph.D., a diversity and inclusion strategist, antiracism scholar and facilitator, explores how to practice Radical Candor when addressing systemic racism; the historical origins and research-based understanding of white, racialized consciousness; what it means to be antiracist and how to practice anti-racism, and how we can be antiracist leaders, parents and citizens.
In its most basic form, Radical Candor is a framework to facilitate communication that is kind, clear, specific and sincere. It’s about being able to Care Personally and Challenge Directly at the same time. While this kind of communication is always important for building trust and maintaining relationships, it’s even more important during a crisis when anxieties are heightened and everything is uncertain. Kim, Jason and Amy unpack how to Challenge Directly during a crisis without losing your humanity. Go to www.radicalcandor.com/podcast/challenging-during-a-crisis for comprehensive show notes.
Even though we're physically distant at work, that doesn't mean we can't cultivate caring and candid relationships with peers, managers and direct reports. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy talk about how to effectively check in with teams of all sizes while working remotely.
Radical Candor author and co-founder Kim Scott talks with Kelly Leonard, executive director of insights and applied improvisation at Second City Works and author of the book, Yes, And: Lessons from The Second City, talk about how an improv mindset coupled with practicing Radical Candor can help managers lead remote teams with kindness and clarity during times of uncertainty. This special discussion is moderated by Radical Candor CEO Jason Rosoff.
The purpose of feedback is to help people find more success, so it’s CRAZY to think it’s only the manager’s job to give feedback. It’s everyone’s job! In this episode, Kim and Russ share stories and advice for giving feedback to your peers… and avoiding the pitfalls.
Do you ever get so caught up in achieving results at work that you forget that the people around you are real people? Even the most empathetic of us can make this mistake. This episode, Kim and Russ are joined by guest Al Guido, President of the San Francisco 49ers, to share stories and advice for putting the human back in human resources.
Building a great team is critical for bosses, but how do you bring on the right people? Interviewing and hiring is so hard to do — in this episode, Kim and Russ share some of their mistakes, what they’ve learned, and advice for a better hiring process.
Absentee managers may not be as frustrating as micromanagers, but they’re even more common and can have a negative impact on your career. Kim and Russ share stories of absentee managers, talk about whether to just make do with this type of boss, and give their tips for what to do when you find yourself with an absentee manager.
How do you know if management is right for you? Maybe you’re thinking about becoming a boss, or you’re already a boss but aren’t sure you want to be. Kim and Russ are joined by guest Hunter Walk, Partner at Homebrew, to share stories and advice for making this decision.
Decisions are critical to keeping your team moving forward, but a lot of people struggle to make them. Kim and Russ share advice to help you make sure that perfect doesn’t become the enemy of good.
Everyone loves promotions, right? Well…not so fast. Kim and Russ talk about how promotions might be hurting you and your team and suggest some other ways to think about recognizing high performers.
Feedback helps you grow, right? So why is it so hard to take? Kim and Russ share their tips and techniques for what to do after you get feedback.
We keep saying that in person feedback is best...why is that? Body language! You can learn a lot from someone else's body language, and you can also use your own body language to communicate. Join Kim, Russ, and guest Amy Chang of Accompany to learn how body language can help you out at work.
Maybe you're a first-time manager at a new company. Maybe you've been promoted within your current company. Either way, you probably have a lot of questions about how to work best with your team and get the best results. Rest assured, Kim and Russ are here to help.
If you’ve ever had a micromanager boss, you know how frustrating and demotivating it is to be micromanaged. You feel powerless — what can you do? Kim and Russ have some advice for these situations.
Meetings can be an extremely frustrating part of work. But they don't have to be! Listen to this episode with guest Claire Johnson of Stripe to discover a meeting opportunity you may be missing, learn how to combat the worst meeting habit, and get some tips you can use to start improving your meetings this week.
By now you're familiar with the ideas behind Radical Candor -- Care Personally and Challenge Directly. How can you take these ideas and make organizational change? In this episode, Kim and Russ talk about how to create a culture of Radical Candor in your own workplace.
When your team or boss doesn't work in the same location you do, communicating and building a strong relationship are much harder! Kim and Russ share stories of their challenges and successes and give advice for staying connected with remote teams.
In honor of Employee Appreciation Day, this Friday, March 3rd, Russ and Kim talk about cultivating a sense of appreciation within your team. They explain why many bosses aren’t great at this and share some tips for showing appreciation this week!
Being able to give your boss feedback is one of the key ways not to hate the boss you have! But this can be extremely daunting and sometimes risky…how do you do it so that you’ll be heard and not shut down?
Feedback is critical for success, so what happens if you aren’t getting the feedback you need? It can feel hard to ask for feedback, especially from your boss, but Russ and Kim have some advice! This episode is all about how to get feedback from your boss.
One of the most common mistakes bosses make is thinking their job is to tell people what to do. But that doesn’t work! So how can you get people moving in the same direction and achieving results collaboratively? Listen to this week’s episode for tips from Russ and Kim about how NOT to tell people what to do.
As a manager, your job is to help your people grow. But have you ever asked yourself, “Grow into what?” This week, Russ and Kim talk about a technique for getting to know the people on your team, understanding the things that motivate them, learning about their dreams, and helping them make tangible progress towards those dreams.
Giving criticism isn't usually something that people look forward to, but it needs to be done! If you don't give criticism when it's needed, you end up hurting people you care about by being "too nice." Kim and Russ both share stories about learning this the hard way, and some tips to help you avoid Ruinous Empathy.
Have you ever received praise that made it feel like you were just getting a pat on the head? Or have you ever given someone praise because you wanted them to like you? This episode is for you! This week on the Radical Candor podcast: Ruinous Empathy and praise, with special guest, Dick Costolo!
Radical Candor Episode 2 is here! In this week’s episode, Russ and Kim talk about Radically Candid criticism. What is it and why does it work? They share stories about times they screwed up and then received Radically Candid criticism. Russ and Kim also give concrete tips for offering Radically Candid criticism in your own workplace.
Our first podcast episode is available now! This week Kim and Russ introduce the ideas behind Radical Candor, tell how they learned these lessons the hard way, and share practical tips for better relationships at work.
A weekly podcast debuting January 2, 2017 with The Onward Project. Subscribe now to ensure you get the episodes as soon as they are available!