Radical Candor

This week, the 2 Minute Tip shares advice from Kim Scott’s Radical Candor on how to be a great boss.

Scott defines Radical Candor as caring personally while challenging directly.

Think about the best bosses you’ve had. I’ll be she cared about you personally, enough to give you feedback that you may not have wanted to hear.

This boss probably wasn’t trying to win a popularity contest, or be your friend.

She probably also challenged you directly, forcing you to think about how you could improve.

Here’s the Radical Candor model. Note the two continuums, Caring Personally and Challenging Directly.

Image by Kim Scott, from Twitter.

Let’s say someone’s zipper is open. What do you say?

• Ruinous empathy: Say nothing because you feel bad.

• Manipulative insincerity: “Hey man, it happened to me last week!” (When it didn’t).

• Obnoxious aggression: In front of a group of people, say, “Hey, big man, your barn door’s open! Hahahaha.”

• Radical Candor: Whisper to the person, “Your fly is down.”

Tomorrow, the 2 Minute Tip will look at ways that as a boss, you can speak to show you care personally.