Episode 11

Kim Scott on Radical Candor

“You cannot possibly build capacity, learn or improve if you don’t know what you’re doing wrong.”– Kim Scott

GUEST
Kim Scott is the author of Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best Seller. She is also the co-founder of the company, Radical Candor, LLC.  She joins this episode of Elevate with Robert Glazer to talk about how she created the concept of Radical Candor and how anybody can apply it.

Kim has been an advisor at Dropbox, Kurbo, Qualtrics, ReelGoodApp, Rolltape, Shyp, Twitter, and several other Silicon Valley companies. She was a member of the faculty at Apple University and before that led AdSense, YouTube, and Doubleclick Online Sales and Operations at Google.

Previously, Kim was the co-founder and CEO of Juice Software, a collaboration start-up, and led business development at Delta Three and Capital Thinking. Earlier in her career, Kim worked as a senior policy advisor at the FCC, managed a pediatric clinic in Kosovo, started a diamond cutting factory in Moscow, and was an analyst on the Soviet Companies Fund.

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Show Notes

  • Kim’s introduction to the concept of radical candor
  • How Sheryl Sandberg practiced radical candor with Kim
  • The two-by-two matrix she created and how the four quadrants are different
  • Why radical candor requires that we undo training we learned as a child
  • How to use the four quadrants
  • Why well-meaning feedback training often inhibits their ability to give feedback
  • What the fundamental attribution error is
  • Three steps to giving caring, candid feedback
  • Why criticizing someone’s personality is never helpful
  • Why giving feedback immediately is important
  • How giving and receiving feedback well is essential to capacity-building
  • Why the best leaders praise in public and criticize in private
  • Why the concept of a “B player” is insulting
  • Difference between rock stars and super stars and how to fairly manage the people in these different modes
  • What “Speak Truth to Power” meetings are and how it can help build a culture of radical candor
  • Why companies need to create growth opportunities for people in individual contributor roles – without requiring them to become managers of people
  • Why Ruinous Empathy is one of the worst forms of feedback
  • One of Kim’s most painful experiences in her career NOT being radically candid with an employee
  • How the show Silicon Valley wrongly depicted Radical Candor why it really demonstrated Obnoxious Aggression
  • The only way you can know whether you’re being radically candid or not
  • Why it can be more challenging for people to practice radical candor with their colleagues in a remote environment

Links from the Episode
Episode Transcription
Kim Scotts Website
Kim Scott’s book – Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
Radical Candor, LLC Twitter – https://twitter.com/candor/
Radical Candor on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/candor-inc/

CONNECT SOCIALLY!
Guest: Kim Scott
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimballscott/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimm4/
Email: kim@radicalcandor.com; Jason@radicalcandor.com

Host: Robert Glazer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/robert_glazer/  
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glazer

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