Radical Candor
Dispatch 013
The Rebuild: Restoring Trust in Toxic Times
On December 5th I'm hosting a free Masterclass about rebuilding trust.
During the time I'll share proven strategies for developing trust despite toxic & stressful time.
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Navigating the tricky waters of workplace communication is the professional equivalent of walking a tightrope. On one side, fall to your death by being brutally honest. On the side you risk being an empathetic pushover. To survive the balancing act you can't lean too far either way.
Enter Radical Candor, it's is all about being open and direct while also being thoughtful and considerate. In this dispatch we'll explore, radical candor and to be clear radical candor does NOT equal brutal honesty.
What is "Radical Candor"?
Radical candor isn't just being blunt; it’s achieving the delicate balance between caring personally and challenging directly. As Great Leaders, our goal is to inspire growth while supporting the humanity of our team. This concept, popularized by Kim Scott in her book "Radical Candor: Be a Kick-A** Boss Without Losing Your Humanity," encourages leaders to communicate clearly and empathetically. It's not a choose between them - it's a choice to include both.
At its core, radical candor strips feedback of ambiguity making it a tool for growth rather than a weapon of criticism. The goal is finding that middle ground where honesty doesn’t sacrifice kindness. When done well radical candor builds trust, enables open dialogue, and ultimately creates a culture where your team feels valued, heard and inspired.
Radical ≠ Brutal
At first glance, brutal honesty and radical candor might seem similar—they both emphasize directness. Brutal honesty focuses solely on the "hard truth".
Demoralizing? So what.
Bad timing? Deal with it.
Same feedback that hasn't worked before? Your problem.
On the other hand, radical candor pairs honesty with empathy. Deliver those hard truths, but in a way that creates understanding coupled with a desire to grow. The radical part of this candor is that it delves directly into necessary areas of growth while caring for the heart and soul of the team member.
If it was easy, everyone would do it:
Strive for Candor with 5 Steps
- Define the goal - Feedback should have a desired transformation. Before you go dive in to provide feedback, define the change or transformation you seek
- Wonder "Why?" - Ask yourself why this isn't already happening. For example, before you tell a team member they need clearer communication - spend at least a moment defining for yourself why their current communication wasn't "clear". They thought it was clear, otherwise they wouldn't send it!
- Drive out ambiguity - Radical candor always focuses on removing ambiguity in the message & the desired outcome. Feedback "communicate more clearly" fundamentally falls short of this because it means different things to different people. Be precise with your feedback:
"Your communication is sometimes confusing to those without as much context. In the future include 1-2 bullets of that will address the why and when"
- No maps; turn by turn instead - Mapquest first and now Google/Apple Maps aren't revolutionary because of super hi-fidelity map access. The power is in the precision of turn by turn directions. Think the same way - give detailed instructions not general maps.
"Here are three types of context that would be helpful in the future"
- Reinforce strong effort - No one is going to do things perfectly all the time, especially not when they are learning new skills. If you see effort being made towards the goal. Resist the urge to say "that was good, but..." because it distracts from the reinforcement. Instead:
"I can tell you are really working to provide more context in communications" Then take an extra step toward empathy and commiserate about how hard it is to provide the right amount of context when the audience is varied.
Coupling positive reinforcement with an empathetic acknowledgement establishes models authenticity & empathy increasing the bonds of trust.
The Bottom Line
The idea of being this direct can feel daunting. Brutal honesty has hurt lots of people, instead seek to be radically direct but kind instead of brutal. As Brene Brown says, "Clear is kind."
Great Leaders start with kindness.
Leader Resources
- Alan Mulally turned Ford Motor around from the lowest performing US car manufacturer to the most profitable. And he did with a few simple steps. Read about it here
- Radical Candor TED talk with Kim Scott
Just A Tip - Develop Proximity
Most of Great Leadership isn't big, difficult things - but that's what gets the most attention. One easy to implement tip? Develop Proximity.
Being close to each other is what build culture, establishes norms, and puts you in a place to provide leadership by example. The most important effort is to build proximity for you & your team.
BUT - I would encourage you to avoid this as your staff meeting. You need a staff meeting; that's something different. A couple options:
- 5-10 Min Huddle - Every morning, same time. Pick three things to always talk about, like: Win from yesterday, Big focus today, Thing to watch out for today
- Weekly initiative review - bring everyone together for meeting to cover the big 5-6 things. Ideally you cancel some other meetings. The goal is for everyone to be active & participatory
- You Gotta Eat - Make a habit of asking your team to go to lunch. Not as a celebration (those are great too). Not as precursor to bad news.
Just get them together informally - with no goal except proximity
Leadership isn't easy, but that doesn't mean it has to be difficult.
Thanks for reading. Next week we will talk about building a culture of curiosity. Can't want to see you then!
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Keep Learning, Leading & Growing -
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Adam Malone 📬
The Sometimes Tenacious Founder
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