Blog

Video: Why to Avoid "Don't Take it Personally"

It's hard to take general management and feedback advice and visualize how to apply it in real-life situations. Some Radical Candor readers have mentioned to Kim that it would be helpful to see various feedback and management scenarios acted out. So she and Eleanor Scott did this fun improv role play to help with one of Kim's pieces of advice:

Eliminate the words 'Don't take it personally' from your vocabulary."

 

Here's why it's such a bad idea to say, "Don't take it personally" when someone gets upset after you've given them some critical feedback:
https://youtu.be/FGNPwT5-y6U

 

For more tips, check out Chapter 2 of Radical Candor, and read this highly popular article from last year about giving feedback that's not about personality.

Dive Deeper

For you

Kick ass at work without losing your humanity. Check out our Online Courses and Tools for you to work through on your own time.

Check out Public Workshops, AI Coach, and Online Courses →

For your team

Workshops teach the Radical Candor framework and includes hands-on practice. Real scenarios, role play, up to 150 people. Half or full day. Virtual or in person.

Check out team workshops →

Share your perspective

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

More from Radical Candor

Blog

How Do You Act on Feedback? Reward the Candor

What does rewarding the candor look like? This story always comes up in our workshops: When we worked together at Google, my colleague Russ Laraway once complained that I …

Read more
Blog

What Do You Do After You Ask for Feedback? The Only Way Out Is Through

A Story A banker who led a high-stakes tech IPO ran an important meeting with the COO of the company that was going public. The meeting had been a home run. So he was surprised …

Read more
Podcast

Manipulation vs. Persuasion: A Clear Distinction (with Jay Conger) 8 | 29

While the podcast team is on a Radical Sabbatical, Kim Scott is spending the season talking to authors of the books that have shaped her thinking. This week: Jay Conger, whose …

Read more