Radical Candor Podcast

Sixty percent of employers will reportedly send employees to “office etiquette” training in 2024. Whether it’s folks returning to the office after years of working remotely, or recent college grads without office experience — apparently people don’t know how to act around one another anymore. The team discusses the impact of decreased human interactions and the need to establish office behavior norms. Kim, Brandi and Jason also emphasize the importance of open communication and creating explicit norms, especially in hybrid and remote work environments. And if you work in person, don't touch other people's keyboards or drop Dorito crumbs onto their desks.


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Common human decency is something everyone deserves, but not everyone gets. Especially at work. Kim and Amy discuss a case study Kim learned about during a recent visit to Harvard Business School. In this case, the co-founders of CloudFlare considered the implications of five employees' resignations over the prior three months and whether or not the resignations were symptomatic of bigger issues with CloudFlare's culture and management processes. The HBS alums then put on their case study hats as they explore the recent attention CloudFlare has received for its poor handling of layoffs after Brittany Pietsch filmed her own layoff and it subsequently went viral on TikTok.


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You've heard us say often that it's important to praise your employees in public (if they're comfortable with it) but to always give criticism in private. While there is almost always something for others to learn from an individual's mistake, criticizing or shaming them in public has been shown to make the person more likely to hide mistakes in the future, hurting them and the company. So how can we separate and honor our concern for the individual with the needs of the team?


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For a podcast about communication at work, we sometimes use corporate jargon that doesn't always make sense—even to us. We disagree about corporate speak and what it means. Case in point, managing out. What does managing out mean? How do you know if you're being managed out? There’s definitely some misalignment on what “managing people out” means versus what it’s supposed to mean — maybe we need a new word. According to the business dictionary Jargonism, The definition of Managing Someone Out is, “The practice of giving an employee undesirable tasks, so that the employee leaves a company voluntarily.” It means something else to Kim, and Brandi thinks "managing out" is a term rife with manipulative insincerity. Listen to the conversation then let us know what you think about managing out!


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We talk a lot about the importance of shifting from command and control to a culture focused on collaboration. Stephen M.R. Covey joins the Radical Candor podcast for our first Radically Candid Conversation of 2024 to discuss how trust-and-inspire leadership leads to happier teams, improved retention, increased productivity, and improved company culture. Under Stephen’s direction, Covey Leadership Center became the largest leadership development company in the world. The bestselling author of Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others” and “The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything Stephen is a globally sought-after speaker and advisor on trust, leadership, ethics, and collaboration.


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Tune in as we delve into the workplace dynamic that everyone can relate to — the "loud laborers." These individuals have mastered the art of talking big about their projects while accomplishing very little. Join us to explore the characteristics of these self-proclaimed workplace heroes, as they often gravitate toward tasks that boost visibility rather than genuine productivity. Discover the impact of "loud laborers" on team dynamics and how to navigate this common workplace scenario. Don't miss out on this insightful discussion shedding light on the not-so-quiet world of office chatter!

Hey there introverts at work — we see you! Extroverts are often overrepresented on management teams and many leaders are unsure how to coach, give feedback to, and advocate for a thoughtful introverted employee in a culture where multi-tasking extroverts are rewarded. On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Kim, Jason and Amy answer a listener's question about how to communicate the unseen efforts and accomplishments of introverted employees to senior management.

We talk a lot on this podcast about how managers can ensure their employees stay engaged at work, but what about keeping managers engaged? A boss’s job is to guide a team to achieve results. However, in the current landscape of constant disruptions, this job is feeling impossible for some managers. What’s more, disengaged managers lead to disengaged teams. Is all hope lost?

Holiday communication with your family can be rife with stress. And while you love your family, let’s be frank, family togetherness during the holidays often goes sideways. So much so that it’s become a trope that’s spawned dozens of holiday movies. But you can survive it by practicing Radical Candor with your nearest and dearest this holiday season to avoid defaulting to Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insincerity or Ruinous Empathy.