1: “Very few people start out their careers thinking, I don’t give a damn about people, so I think I’ll be a great boss,” Kim Scott writes in Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity.
To create a radically candid environment, Kim believes we must do two things: Care personally and challenge directly.
And yet, many bosses fall short in caring personally for the people on their teams.
Why?
Too many leaders focus on keeping it “professional.” Which means: “Show up at work on time, do your job, and don’t show feelings.”
The result? “Nobody feels comfortable being who they really are at work,” Kim observes. “We are all human beings, with human feelings, and, even at work, we need to be seen as such.”
2: The opposite approach is captured by author and coach Fred Kofman‘s statement: “Bring your whole self to work.”
As leaders, we must model this behavior, Kim writes. We must show “some vulnerability to the people who report to us–or just admitting when we’re having a bad day–and creating a safe space for other to do the same.”
Because what happens when people feel they must repress who they are to make a living?
“We become alienated,” she writes. “That makes us hate going to work.”
Kim believes there is a better way: “Caring personally is the antidote to both robotic professionalism and managerial arrogance.”
Why does she say caring personally instead of just caring?
“Because it’s not enough to care about the person’s work or the person’s career,” she writes. “Only when you actually care about the whole person with your whole self can you build a relationship.”
3: What caring personally is not?
It’s not “about memorizing birthdays and names of family members,” she notes. “Nor is it about sharing the sordid details of one’s personal life, or forced chitchat at social events you’d rather not attend.”
Instead, caring personally is something we already know how to do.
“It’s about acknowledging that we are all people with lives and aspirations that extend beyond those related to our shared work,” she writes. “It’s about finding time for real conversations; about getting to know each other at a human level; about learning what’s important to people; about sharing with one another what makes us want to get out of bed in the morning and go to work.”
One final thing Kim notes. We must “also care deeply about people while being prepared to be hated in return.”
Which we will explore. . . tomorrow!
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Reflection: What are the benefits of embracing Kim’s advice to leaders to care personally? Is there anything for me that is in the way of doing so? What experiment could I run to strengthen my ability to do so?
Action: Journal about my answers to the questions above.
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1 Comment
Goog article.
In my 28 years as medical imaging director I can add a few things.
Imaging departments can vary in size. It’s a people business. While interacting with the patient was important, there wasn’t much time. That said, I chose those who could be comfortable with conversation almost instantly. Much of the qualities desired could be discovered over a cup of coffee at the interview. I also made it a point to get acquainted with the spouses. Their kids and those with special needs. Homelife has a direct impact on the daily, evening and midnight shifts. An annual employee party around March well after the holidays was a hit. Spouses were invited and I stood at the door welcoming them to our annual festivity. In addition the engineers from various x-ray companie were also invited. That made for prompt repair responses throughout the year. That party was talked about for months and looked forward toward for months. It was very well attended. I walked the floors during the day and did my “paperwork” after the days shift. At times did the same for the other shifts. Know your staff. Listen to your staff. Respond to your staff. Semper Fi.