Radical Candor Podcast

Back-to-office is back—and it’s messier, weirder, and more pointless than ever. This week, Amy and Jason take on the chaos: office spaces that feel like obstacle courses, communication breakdowns, and leaders who are still convinced that showing up equals productivity. We get into generational frustrations, real research, and how real leadership isn’t about enforcing old rules—it’s about listening, adapting, and actually giving a damn. If your “new normal” feels suspiciously like the old nonsense, join us for a fresh perspective (and a few laughs).


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Move fast and break things” wasn’t a roadmap. It was a warning—and we ignored it. Kim and Jason discuss what happens when companies prioritize speed over responsibility, scale over safety, and engagement over everything else. From internal debates that never happened to public harm no one wants to own, they talk about how the systems built to “disrupt” ended up eroding trust, and why it doesn’t have to stay this way. Want to build a culture that actually encourages learning, debate, and accountability? Start here.


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Ever feel like getting anything done at work means running a marathon through molasses? You’re not alone. In this episode, Amy and Jason go full throttle on the soul-sucking systems that slow teams down and wear people out. Sparked by a listener stuck in a tangle of outdated processes, they unpack how well-meaning rules morph into momentum killers—and what to do when speaking up feels like you’re just making it worse.


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What do NDAs, forced arbitration, and emotionally manipulating teenagers have in common? Sadly, more than you'd hope. Kim, Jason and Amy rip the lid off the corporate culture of hush-hush harm, legal gymnastics and why emotional manipulation is a feature—not a bug—in some marketing strategies. They dig into the story behind Careless People by Sara Wynn-Williams, the book someone definitely doesn’t want you to read, and expose how companies use contracts to silence the truth and protect power—not people.


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Turns out, surviving the workplace often comes down to one simple rule: don’t be an asshole. Kim Scott and Amy Sandler sit down with Stanford’s Bob Sutton, author of The No Asshole Rule and The Friction Project, to talk about how real leadership means treating people like people, not just cogs in a machine.


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Success doesn’t come to those who wait—it comes to those who take it. For years, you’ve been told to be humble, play nice, and wait your turn. Jenny Wood says that’s exactly why so many talented people stay stuck. As a former Google executive turned author of Wild Courage: Go After What You Want and Get It, she’s here to expose the real traits that drive success—ones that might make you uncomfortable.


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Talking to people shouldn’t feel like a struggle—but let’s be honest, it often does. Maybe you’re stuck in small talk hell, getting ignored in meetings, or watching conversations die mid-sentence. Why is this so hard? Amy sits down with Dr. Alison Wood Brooks, Harvard Business School professor and author of TALK: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves, to expose the hidden science behind great conversations—and why most of us are getting it wrong.


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Trapped between an HR-driven process that feels like a sham and a direct report who’s not meeting expectations? That’s a management nightmare. When a boss hands you a struggling employee with the unspoken expectation that you’ll “manage them out,” how do you stay honest, maintain trust, and avoid turning into the workplace grim reaper? Kim, Jason, and Amy break down the emotional and ethical toll of Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), how to navigate them without feeling like a pawn, and why Radical Candor is the only way through. This isn’t about sugarcoating or corporate theater—it’s about handling tough conversations with clarity, fairness, and a whole lot less BS.


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Too many direct reports and not enough time? Scaling leadership effectively when you're outnumbered by your direct reports can feel impossible. When you’re responsible for 30 to 50 people, the idea of meaningful one-on-ones is a joke—but so is pretending you can manage that many people without a meltdown. In this episode, Kim and Amy rip apart the myth that “just working harder” will fix the problem and get real about why traditional leadership approaches fail at scale.


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