Podcast Episode 5: Career Conversations

As a manager, your job is to help your people grow. But have you ever asked yourself, "Grow into what?" This week, Russ and Kim talk about a technique for getting to know the people on your team, understanding the things that motivate them, learning about their dreams, and helping them make tangible progress towards those dreams.

Listen to this week's episode:

In this Episode

In previous episodes of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim and Russ have talked a lot about feedback. This week, they dive into another way to build relationships with people on your team: Career Conversations.

Russ developed this process when he was at Google when he noticed that a lot of people felt frustrated that they weren't getting where they wanted to be in their careers. They felt stuck, like they weren't making any progress.

Russ came to realize that these people needed a sense of their endgame and an intentional process for putting together a short-term plan, so he came up with this Career Conversations approach.

Kim and Russ share stories about people they've worked with, and even their own experiences with career dreams and conversations. Kim acknowledges:

It's hard to say your dreams out loud, especially to your boss.

But as a boss, part of your responsibility is to encourage people to dream, and to help them take a step in the direction of their dreams.

You need to give people license to dream.

Russ and Kim finish off the episode with tips for getting started with Career Conversations.

This Week's Candor Checklist

Tip 1: Have a Life Story conversation

Tip 2: Have a Visions conversation

Tip 3: Create a Career Action Plan

Learn more about these tips by listening to the episode!

Related Links

Get a little more detail on the Career Conversations process with the following links:

• The Problem with Career Conversations Today
• Russ's Career Conversations presentation at First Round CEO Summit
• Candor Career Conversations