Radical Candor: The Brutal Truth

THE BRUTAL REALITY: "NICE" IS A SLOW POISON

Most managers think being "nice" means avoiding uncomfortable truths. This is professional negligence.

The Conflict: You want to be liked. You avoid the "mean" conversation to protect your own feelings, not theirs.

The Truth: By not telling someone they are failing, you are stealing their chance to improve. You are letting them fail slowly.

The Fix: You must Challenge Directly while Caring Personally. Direct truth is the highest form of respect.

1. THE FEEDBACK VELOCITY

Feedback is like fresh fruit; it rots if it sits. Giving feedback on a mistake that happened 3 weeks ago is useless. Micro-corrections must happen in real-time to be effective.

2. PRAISE VS CRITICISM

Praise in public to set the high-performance standard for everyone. Criticize in private to protect the individual's ego and maintain their loyalty. If you flip this, you destroy morale and create public resentment.

SMART WORDS

RADICAL CANDOR

The "Straight Talk." The ability to be brutally honest because you actually care about the person's long-term success.

RUINOUS EMPATHY

The "Silent Killer." Being so afraid of hurting someone's feelings that you allow them to produce mediocre work until they get fired.

S.B.I. MODEL

The "Precision Tool." Situation, Behavior, Impact. The only formula for giving feedback without it feeling like a personal attack.

TACTICAL DIRECTIVES

1. The 24-Hour Rule: Give critical feedback within 24 hours of the event, or don't give it at all.

2. The Mirror Question: Ask your team weekly: "What is the one thing I'm doing that makes it harder for you to succeed?"

3. Micro-Praise: Find one specific action done perfectly today and acknowledge it publicly in Slack or the office.