Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
Kim Scott
St. Martin’s Press (March 2017)

How strategic candor can help to “defy the quintessential pull of organizational mediocrity”

For the title of my review, I selected a phrase that Richard Tedlow expressed to Kim Scott with reference to Apple’s leadership development program. Steve Jobs’s commitment to anyone and anything “insanely great” is by now well known. I agree with Scott about the importance of establishing and then nourishing what she characterizes as “Radically Candid relationships” within a workplace environment. If mutual respect and mutual trust are the “glue” of relationships, then candor certainly serves as their preservative.

In this book, Scott focuses on two “dimensions”:

“The first dimension is about more than ‘just professional.’ It’s about giving a damn, sharing more than just your work self, and encouraging everyone who reports to you to do the same. It’s not enough to care only about people’s ability to perform a job. To have a good relationship, you have to be your whole self and care about each of the people who work for you as a human being. It’s not just business; it is personal, and deeply personal. I call this dimension ‘Care Personally.’”

“The second dimension involves telling people when their work isn’t good enough — and when it is; when they are not going to get that new role they wanted, or when you’re going to hire a new boss ‘over’ them; when the results don’t justify further investment in what they’re working on. Delivering hard feedback, making hard calls about who does what on a team, and holding a high bar for results — isn’t that obviously the job of any manager? And yet challenging people is often the best way to show them you care when you’re the boss. This dimension I call ‘Challenge Directly.’”

I wholly agree with Scott about the need to understand the “perilous border” between Obnoxious Aggression and Radical Candor. “Radically Candid criticism is an important part of the culture at both Google and Apple, but it takes very different forms at the two companies. Google emphasizes caring personally more than challenging directly, so I’d describe criticism there as Radical Candid with a twist of Ruinous Empathy. Apple does the opposite, so I’d describe its culture of criticism as Radical Candor with a twist of Obnoxious Aggression.”

Asking the right questions effectively is among the most important, yet least appreciated core competencies, especially with regard to supervisors. It is also noteworthy that according to the results of major research studies of face-to-face interactions, body language and tone of voice determine 80-85% of the impact; what is actually said is only about 15-20%.

These are among the questions Scott recommends to supervisors when seeking feedback from an underperforming direct report:

o “I know you are determined to produce the results we need.
o “What can I do to make that easier for you?”
o “What do you need that you don’t have now?”
o “Have there been any unexpected problems?”
o Any pleasant surprises?”
o “To what extent do you feel limited by someone or something else?”
o “Is there something else you would much rather be doing?”

Jony Ivie once observed, “new ideas are fragile.” The same is true of direct reports when they feel challenged or threatened.

Many supervisors demonstrate a form of “tough love” in their relationships with direct reports by setting ambitious goals and having very high standards when measuring performance. They insist on a best effort, confident their strict supervision indicates how much they care about those entrusted to their care. Other supervisors are enablers, saying or doing whatever is expedient but doing so for the right reasons.

The most effective supervisors have the background, skills, experience, and temperament to know when and how to praise when it has been earned, and, when and how to provide constructive criticism when it is needed. Some of Kim Scott’s most valuable material focuses on the “when” and “how” of each situation.

I agree with her that all supervisors can take a moment to show the people they work with that they care, really care, about what their direct reports care about at a basic human level. “You can warn them if they are making a mistake – not because you hold yourself superior to them, but because you care. You can help others on your team take a step in the direction of their dreams, and even teach them how to help you do the same. You can work together to achieve results that you’re all proud of. And when you do these things, which are absolutely in your power to do so, your Radical Candor will transform your work and your life.”

Throughout our interactions with others — family members and friends as well as business associates — all of us need to keep in mind this observation by Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”