@poornima This is a great episode! I loved how you got so many concrete examples. It's cool how the discussion ranged from the very logical (the quadrants of Kim's framework) to very emotional (what it feels like to be on both ends of feedback from peers/managers).
Such a great story about how Kim went for it to confront Larry Page in an internal email and then later realized she was totally wrong - and hearing her reflect back on how she didn't even like how she handled apologizing to him later.
I really enjoy your show. I've been listening to the podcast version while exercising (though I do want to watch the Youtube vids, too, at some point). One of my new favorites (found here on PH 😸).
Keep up the great work! 🙌
@bryanlanders Thanks a lot Bryan! Yeah Kim's framework if straightforward, and something we can all use to spot guidance we given and receive.
Appreciate that Kim was open to sharing so many stories from her experience.
Great to hear you enjoy the show! I'm always on the lookout for more topics and guests. Any suggestions?
@poornima It might seem a bit unhelpful in terms of selecting guests/topics, but what I like is learning totally new things from your show! For example, I hadn't heard of Kim Scott and her work, but I really enjoyed discovering her in this episode and then went and googled and explored her website, and such.
So, maybe that could be described as intelligent people who don't already get a lot of coverage in mainstream startup press? Possibly skewed toward guests having experience with larger orgs so they've had to go deep with relationships and human interaction at scale? And the more features on female (and underrepresented) founders/thought leaders/managers/experts/etc., the better, again because that will introduce people and ideas likely to be new to watchers/listeners.
Just ideas! You're doing a great job selecting guests/topics, so please keep going! 😊
Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a boss you just didn’t quite get along with. Both of mine are reaching for the stars 😉
I always thought it was me…
Until one day I met up with a previous boss I had, who saw all the work I had done since leaving the company and told me, “Wow we were really holding you back!”
That statement was vindicating.
But I didn’t want vindication. What I had wanted all along was a boss who would lead me by providing consistent guidance and feedback to help me improve.
I’m sure my story is not unique, but it has become an accepted leadership style, because we’re told that the best products and companies are led by bossholes people who rule through fear.
While there maybe a few of those lurking out there, it’s actually a pretty big myth, and one that we’re going to debunk in today’s episode of FemgineerTV!
We’ll also talk about how the boss who is a buddy aka Michael Scott, is even more damaging that the bosshole, because they are holding back the criticism you need to perform better.
So what does it take to be a great leader and boss?
Radical Candor.
It’s a framework for providing constructive guidance to employees, even when employees have screwed up, and was created by Kim Scott.
Kim has a rich background in tech. She formerly led Online Sales and Operations for a number of products at Google such as AdSense, YouTube, and Doubleclick. She’s also an advisor to a number of Silicon Valley startups such as Dropbox, Kurbo, Qualtrics, Rolltape, Shyp, Twitter, and more.
Through all these roles Kim has had first-hand experience with radical candor and is writing a book and building a company based on it. I’ve invited her on the show to help us explore the framework and learn how to practice it.
As you watch the episode you’ll learn:
- How great leaders actually give a damn about their employees AND challenge them directly
- Why the well-intentioned “nice” bosses do their employees a disservice by withholding criticism
- Why people have learned to speak candidly the hard way
- Why criticism has a short half life and so does praise
- How to get through to employees using the Radical Candor framework
Even if you aren’t a leader or a boss, I’d highly recommend watching this episode, because it showcases how employees can spot toxic cultures, how to change them, and the traits to spot in great leaders.
Check out Kim's upcoming book and company here: http://www.radicalcandor.com/
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