Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
Author: Kim Malone Scott
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
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Cover Description
From the time we learn to speak, we’re told that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. While this advice may work for everyday life, it is, as Kim Scott has seen, a disaster when adopted by managers.
Scott earned her stripes as a highly successful manager at Google and then decamped to Apple, where she developed a class on optimal management. She has earned growing fame in recent years with her vital new approach to effective management, the “radical candor” method.
Radical candor is the sweet spot between managers who are obnoxiously aggressive on one side and ruinously empathetic on the other. It’s about providing guidance, which involves a mix of praise as well as criticism — delivered to produce better results and help employees achieve.
Great bosses have strong relationships with their employees, and Scott has identified three simple principles for building better relationships with your employees: make it personal, get (sh)it done, and understand why it matters.
Radical Candor offers a guide to those bewildered or exhausted by management, written for bosses and those who manage bosses. Taken from years of the author’s experience, and distilled clearly giving actionable lessons to the reader; it shows managers how to be successful while retaining their humanity, finding meaning in their job, and creating an environment where people both love their work and their colleagues.
TL;DR Review
Radical Candor is a must-read for anyone who manages people in any way, or who expects to soon. I found it really helpful!
For you if: You want to learn how to build good relationships with your reports at work.
Full Review
“Some professionals say you need to have a praise-to-criticism ratio of 3:1, 5:1, or even 7:1. Others advocate the “feedback sandwich” — opening and closing with praise, sticking some criticism in between. I think venture capitalist Ben Horowitz got it right when he called this approach the “shit sandwich.” Horowitz suggests that such a technique might work with less-experienced people, but I’ve found the average child sees through it just as clearly as an executive does.”
A few weeks ago, I learned that we are going to hire someone new on my team at work, and I’m going to be their manager. I was honored and excited, and then immediately realized what a big responsibility this will be, to support and nurture another person in their career. I posted in the Next Big Idea Club Facebook Group, asking for book recommendations for new managers. Both Adam Grant and Daniel Pink responded (!), and both of them suggested this book. Which was great, because by that point, some light Googling had already led me to borrow the audiobook from my library.
Radical Candor is a bit of a modern classic when it comes to books about managing people, and for good reason. It’s filled with advice and punctuated with dozens of helpful, illustrative examples. It doesn’t just blow off hot air, and it isn’t one of those books that should really just be a TED Talk. I think I’m going to buy a physical copy, if just to refer back to some of the conversation starters and questions suggested for things like one-on-one meetings.
Thank you, Kim Malone Scott, for this gift!