The Radical Candor Podcast

On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim and Amy welcome Amy C. Edmondson, the Novartis professor of leadership and management at the Harvard Business School and author of several books, including The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth and Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well — available now! From managers seeking to inspire their reports to parents wanting to model a healthy failure mindset for their kids, this book will revolutionize how we think about failure.

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On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Amy and Brandi discuss coming out at work and Amy and Brandi share their stories. In response to an unprecedented spike in discriminatory legislation, The Human Rights Campaign recently declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. Visibility matters — we want folks who might be struggling to know that we see you. That you deserve to be here. And to thrive!

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On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Amy and Jason discuss terms that are often used interchangeably but actually mean different things: Praise, Recognition, Appreciation and Gratitude. Kim also takes on the role of Don Draper to act out a scene from Mad Men’s beloved episode “The Suitcase.” Listen to learn why  — in most cases — “that’s what the money is for” is not sufficient recognition or appreciation. (A deep dive into Peggy and Don’s complicated relationship is a whole other glass of whiskey not covered in this episode — but if you haven’t watched “The Suitcase,” it’s a must-see. Listen to our bonus episode about the writers and actors strikes.)

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On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, we’re dropping a bonus episode from Kim’s Just Work podcast featuring a conversation about bullying at work, in Hollywood and within our greater society with co-host Wesley Faulkner and guest Eric Deggans. When someone is bullying you, the person’s goal is to harm you. Telling the person you are being harmed is just going to result in more bad behavior. Ignoring bullies doesn’t work, either. The only way to stop bullying is to create negative consequences for the people doing the bullying.

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On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Amy and Jason discuss sandwiches. These are not the tasty sandwiches beloved by Joey Tribbiani on Friends. While these sandwiches look delicious on the outside, inside they’re stuffed with something you can’t quite identify. But, the sandwich maker hopes the two pieces of artisan bread that hold the mystery meat together will make you accept what’s inside without too many questions. This false promise of emotional novocaine is better known as the feedback sandwich. Here’s why you should avoid the feedback sandwich, which Jason calls “the beautiful lie.” 

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On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim and Jason reach into the Radical Candor digital mailbag to answer a question about what to do when an employee starts calling in sick on the regular. Kim and Jason roleplay the situation to get to the bottom of why someone might be pulling a disappearing act.

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On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy discuss the difference between feedback and nitpicking. Kim says, “There is one rule of thumb that applies to criticism in general but is especially good advice when you’re really busy and nerves are frayed. It’s best summed up by advice a friend’s godfather gave her at her wedding. ‘If it’s brown flush it down. If it’s yellow let it mellow.’ She got married on an island with a poor septic system, and this was a sign by all the toilets. But as her godfather said, ‘These are words to live by. If there’s a big stinking problem talk about it before it fouls your relationship. But if it’s a small thing, let it go.'”

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On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim and Amy welcome C-suite advisor and executive coach Muriel Wilkins to the first Radically Candid Conversation episode of 2023. Kim and Muriel discuss how keeping it real at work can go wrong, what employees want from their leaders today, and the difference between performance and behavior.

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On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, the team delves into a mash-up of Ruinous Empathy and Manipulative Insincerity. Ruinous Empathy—being “nice” but ultimately unhelpful and unkind—is rampant among new managers, including this new manager who wrote to us asking for advice about how to break out of a Ruinous Empathy rut. This new boss also veers into Manipulative Insincerity when they become too tired to care or argue anymore. This person dreamed of being a boss and now realizes it’s nothing like they imagined. Kim and Jason role-play how this new manager could approach a Radically Candid conversation with a direct report.

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On this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, Kim, Amy and Jason discuss how to make work less like junior high by implementing something Fred Kofman — Kim’s coach at Google — calls clean escalation. Clean escalation dictates managers not allow people to talk about one another to them behind each other’s backs and not engage in office gossip. 

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