Leadership and radical candor

Early in my career, I thought a leader had to have all the answers. I thought my job was to drive alignment as quickly as possible.

I was wrong.

In her book Radical Candor, Kim Scott shares a story about Steve Jobs scolding an employee—not for making a mistake, but for backing down when the employee was actually right.

Jobs told him: "𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱!"

Jobs didn't want a "yes-person." 𝗛𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿.

I try to live by this. I’m lucky to have people like Monika Liljegren Achury on my team. Monika challenges me on almost every topic. She questions my assumptions and pushes back. I admire it. Her challenges don’t slow us down; they save us from my blind spots. Thanks Monika!

A mentor once gave me this reality check:

"𝗔𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁, 𝗜’𝗺 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝟴𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝟮𝟬% 𝗴𝗮𝗽. On my bad days, that challenge is the only thing saving me."

𝗧𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: If everyone always agrees with you, you’re walking blind. You have to make it safe to disagree.

𝗧𝗼 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀: Your perspective is your most valuable asset. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗳, 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘂𝗽. Even if you eventually "disagree and commit," the debate makes the decision stronger.

I’d love to hear your stories:

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬: When was the last time a team member saved you from a bad decision?

𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬: When was the last time you spoke up and were proud that you did?