Radical Candor Podcast

Everyday actions, when turned into rituals, can manage emotions and create a sense of control and purpose. For Stress Awareness Month, Radical Candor shares another Bonus episode where Harvard Business School Professor Michael Norton joins Amy Sandler to discuss his latest book, "The Ritual Effect." Norton explores the significance of rituals in reducing stress and enhancing productivity, both at work and in personal life.

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Let's play, 'who wants to be a manager?!' We’ve talked about knowing whether or not being a manager is right for you and manager burnout, but what if no one wants to be a manager at all? Kim, Jason, and Amy discuss the challenges and motivations for becoming a manager. They explore the survey results that show a lack of interest in people management, the reasons behind it, the role of middle managers, and the emotional labor involved in being a manager.


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Kim is fresh back from SXSW where she was hosting a live episode of her other podcast Radical Respect — you may notice some bonus episodes of it in your feed — and officially launching her forthcoming book Radical Respect, available for pre-order everywhere books are sold. The team also discusses mentorship, the benefits and drawbacks of conferences and retreats, and they each paint a picture of their ideal Radical Candor getaway. Amy reflects on her 2013 SXSW experience, including an all-night hunt for Grumpy Cat.


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Kim, Jason, and Amy discuss a listener's question about how to confront and disrupt bias in management at work for women working in male-dominated fields. Jason and Kim role-play a scenario where a manager is clearly biased and explain how to disrupt bias in the moment. They also discuss documenting incidents and when it's time to go to HR.


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Amy and Jason engage in a thought-provoking conversation about the impact of AI at work in the realm of Radical Candor. They delve into the evolution of AI, its impressive and limiting aspects, and the challenges of its adoption. They also highlight the importance of interpersonal skills and domain expertise in the age of AI, and how it can be a game-changer in conflict resolution and communication. Jason showcases the Radical Candor Knowledge Bot and Practice Partner as prime examples of AI applications in the field.


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Collaboration is probably the most used buzzword in the corporate world, yet it is often misunderstood. Vijaya Kaza, Chief Security Officer & Head of Engineering for Trust and Safety at Airbnb, joins Kim for a Radically Candid Conversation about Radical Collaboration.


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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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