The Power of Radical Candor with Kim Scott
Most people struggle with “constructive” feedback. It’s hard to hear it and even harder to give it.
There is research that shows our brains interpret negative feedback as a serious threat to our social standing, our belonging in the community, and even our very identity. We are neurologically hard-wired to avoid it like the plague. And yet, we cannot grow and develop without it.
Our guest, Kim Scott, discovered that when feedback comes from a place of caring deeply and challenging directly, it can be very effective. She calls it radical candor.
If you are not familiar with radical candor, this episode is a great introduction, not just to the concept but also to its origin story. Plus, we have a really interesting conversation about recognizing and addressing bias, prejudice, and bullying at work.
“It’s easy to say: “be radically candid” – but quite hard to do it.”
Episode highlights:
- The origin of the radical candor framework.
- The four quadrants walkthrough.
- How radical candor overcomes our hard wiring to perceive feedback as a threat.
- Most effective ways to challenge directly and care personally.
- Recognizing and addressing bias, prejudice and bullying at work.
“You can’t do right if you won’t admit what you’re doing wrong.”
Listen to the interview in the player below or on iTunes. If you like what you hear, please leave a review, and it may be featured on a future episode.
More about Kim
Kim Scott is the author of Just Work: How to Root Out Bias, Prejudice, and Bullying to Build a Kick-ass Culture of Inclusivity and Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity and co-founder of the companies Just Work and Radical Candor.
Kim was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and other tech companies. She was a member of the faculty at Apple University and before that led AdSense, YouTube, and DoubleClick teams at Google.
Prior to that Kim managed a pediatric clinic in Kosovo and started a diamond-cutting factory in Moscow.
She lives with her family in Silicon Valley.
Books mentioned in this episode
Just Work by Kim Scott
Radical Candor by Kim Scott
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
The Bluest Eye/Song of Salomon by Toni Morrison
People mentioned in this episode
Additional resources
CultureBrained® Community – a one-of-a-kind virtual community for Heads of Culture, founders, and leaders who want to up their culture game.
Kim Scott and Trier Bryant TED series (video)
Textio (tool)
PayScale (tool)
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