Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity. Kindle Edition!
By Kim Scott (Author)

 

Hello!

My name is Maria and today we’re talking about “Radical Candor” by Kim Scott.

 

Radical Candor is a term I’d never heard of until I read this book.

Essentially, Scott describes it as a combination of caring personally and challenging directly.

 

This is a book that is intended to teach you how to be radically candid with your teams.

 

I have two main points that I’d like to share with you, so let’s get started.

The first point I’d like to talk about is wanting people to like you.

 

Instead of becoming radically candid, too many of us are focused on worrying about if we’re liked by our teammates.

The mindset essentially is if I say this, they’ll like me, if I say that, they won’t like me.

 

However it’s not concerned with the progress of the team and how the actions of the other person are actually impacting the quality of the work the teams producing.

 

Scott also talks about her time working at Twitter, Facebook, and Google.

She mentions a story she had heard about Steve Jobs about how he was always very direct and expected clear feedback.

 

If you were someone who wasn’t direct and you didn’t directly challenge somebody, he would see that as being vain.

And the reason that would be vain is because you’re more preoccupied with somebody else liking you than actually helping the team progress.

 

Scott explains that it’s about really caring about the other person enough to challenge them and help them improve.

But not being concerned with what they think of you for doing that.

 

The second point I wanted to talk about is starting with yourself.

Scott talks about all these great ideas and how we have to work towards being radically candid that it can be overwhelming.

 

How do we implement these into our work?

Scott suggests that we start with ourselves.

 

Actively seek out people to be radically candid with you.

It shows them that you’re really serious about this idea and that you’re willing to be on the receiving end.

 

In many cultures, giving critical feedback is not something you can do publicly.

Scott gives a great example of how at the Toyota company in Japan, new workers on the production line at the end of their first week were placed in a red box.

 

They could not leave the red box until they criticized at least three things about the production line.

I’m not saying that at your company you need to have a red box, but it’s something to consider.

 

You really have to challenge your teams to criticize in a respectful way.

Now let’s go over some of the positives, negatives, and who I think should be reading this book.

 

One thing I love about this book is that it draws on examples from famous companies such as Google, Twitter, and Facebook.

 

It gives you insight into how these teams operate.

Scott has had first-hand experiences leading teams at these companies and worked with people such as Larry Page.

 

There are really interesting anecdotal stories that Scott shares with you as the reader that I think are really relevant and add to the credibility of what she’s sharing with you.

 

She’s not just talking from a theoretical perspective.

These are ideas she actively uses in her own business herself.

 

That links to another thing I loved about this book.

It’s extremely practical!

 

All this information is really meant for current managers to be using in their business.

It’s really going to help you actually implement the ideas to develop a radically candid culture.

 

Who should be reading this book?

People who are actively involved in teams or are currently managers should definitely read this book.

 

I say this because the information is so practical in nature that it’s intended to be used and help improve the company culture that exists and transform the company or the team into an environment that is based on the principles of challenging people directly and caring personally.

 

That’s it, that’s my book review of “Radical Candor” by Kim Scott.

 

If you want to see what I talked about here, in a written format or you want more information on the author, please head over to my blog www.promotekdbook.com.

 

Next week I’ll be back with another book review.

But until then, keep reading and keep learning!

 

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Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KTIEFEE