CONVERSATIONS WITH KIM SCOTT
BY KELLY HEITZ
Being a good boss is hard. Knowing when to empathize with or
encourage or reprimand your employees is a special skill.
Kim Scott, former leader at Google and currently the cofounder of
Candor, Inc., well-known CEO coach in Silicon Valley, and author of
Radical Candor: Be A Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity, has
spent a career perfecting what being a “good boss” means.
“I made a lot of mistakes early in my career as a manager; then I
watched many, many other managers who worked for me make the
same mistakes I’d made, and it felt like watching a slow-motion train
wreck over and over again,” remembers Scott. “I want to help others
avoid the mistakes I’ve made myself and have seen others make. I
believe we don’t always have to learn through the school of hard
knocks—telling stories can help us avoid the mistakes others have
made.” And Radical Candor is full of stories and advice on using Scott’s mistakes to reflect on your
actions as a manager. Her approach is funny, light-hearted and extremely helpful for anyone wishing to
be the ultimate boss.
In this month’s Conversations, we asked Scott about the lessons she learned as a Silicon Valley
manager and why we all should be radically candid in the workplace.
PULSE: What exactly is radical candor?
P: How important it is to have a good boss?
Scott: Radical Candor is the ability to show you care personally
S: My experience is that having a bad boss is utterly debilitating.
at the same time you challenge people directly. Care personally
I once had a boss who was so belittling that I literally shrank half
means that you care about the other person as a human being,
an inch—my doctor was quite concerned. I’m only five feet tall
not just as a professional. It’s about putting their
and don’t have any height to lose. I’ve seen
interests first, not about winning a popularity contest
employees of bad bosses develop insomnia, full-body
or being creepily personal. Challenge directly means
rashes and depression. When you’re miserable five
that you share your perspective and invite the other
days a week at work, it’s really difficult to enjoy your
person to do the same. It’s not about “telling the
weekends. A bad boss can ruin your life.
truth,” it’s about open, reciprocal communication.
On the other hand, I have had great bosses like
Radical Candor is NOT brutal honesty; that’s
Sheryl Sandberg and Dick Costolo, both who’ve
what I call Obnoxious Aggression—what happens
helped me take a step in the direction of my dreams
when you challenge directly but fail to show you care
and live the life I imagined. I’d say that’s pretty
personally.
important!
Scott’s book or get
The whole point of Radical Candor is that it really Order
more advice on being a great
is possible to Care Personally and Challenge Directly boss at radicalcandor.com.
P: Are there some people who just should not be
at the same time. We can break free of a false dichotomy that
bosses? Or does everyone have the potential to be a good
leaves too many people feeling they must choose between being
boss?
a jerk and being incompetent. That’s a terrible choice, and
S: If you don’t want the responsibility of being a boss, you
nobody has to make it. In fact, if you really care personally about
shouldn’t be required to take on this role to advance in your
somebody, you will tell them if you think they are making a
career. One of the best things that Google did was to create a
mistake—and also, of course, when they are doing something
great career path for people who were great engineers but had no
great, that’s what makes a great boss.
interest in managing people.
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PULSE
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June 2017