Notes from Book on Radical Candor

Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Much of it was a review for me; however, it contained many great pointers and spawned several ideas.

Here are some of my notes and key excerpts:

My summary of Radical Candor is that it is primarily about having a balanced approach to giving feedback. Feedback should be compassionate (because you genuinely care about the person) while also challenging the person directly and respectfully.

 

 

When giving feedback, it is common knowledge that it is crucial to describe the situation, behavior, and feedback. It is not as well known that the same aspects are essential when giving praise.
It is important to remember that during 1:1's, the agenda should be (primarily) your direct report's agenda, not yours.

Don't make an offer if you're not dying to hire someone.

Listen with the intent to understand, not to reply.

Rick Hanson: "The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones."

Great questions to ask when connecting with others:

• How can I help?
• What can I stop doing or start doing to make this easier?
• What wakes you up at night?
• What are you working on that you don't want to?
• What are you not working on that you want to?
• How do you feel about the priorities of the teams you depend on?
• In the last week, when would you have preferred that I be more or less involved with your work?
• What's something I could have done differently this week to make your job easier?
• How can I best support your professional development right now?
• What's a blind spot of mine that you have noticed?