Radical Candor
Savvy Saturdays (2/13/21)
Over the past year, I have learned a lot during my 1-on-1 meetings with my manager—what to look out for when interviewing a candidate, how to work during company changes (ownership handoffs & layoffs), and even how to create a resume with real-world experience! (probably shouldn’t have asked for resume help in my first 1 on 1 though 😅)
Recently, though, I learned a framework for uncomfortable growth from my manager while trying to go to the next level in our meetings.
After googling “What to ask during a 1-on-1” several minutes before my 1 on 1, I found an article, “The Art of the Awkward 1:1”, in a Reddit thread and was inspired (as most people who find quality content on Reddit feel) to share it with my manager.
My hope was to hear his thoughts on “being awkward through real talk”, and take action and commit that for one another.
But he decided to one-up me.
He loved the article and shared how awkwardness through being real is the first step to his management philosophy, Radical Candor.
Based on a book called Radical Candor (go figure), he shared a graph (shown above) that visually reveals how profound change and growth happens (or can’t happen), based on two axes - challenge & care.
These axes split into 4 quadrants
😈 Manipulative Insincerity
😡 Obnoxious Aggression
🤕 Ruinous Empathy
😇 Radical Candor
The negative quadrants seem to have an abundance of problems:
😈 Manipulative Insincerity - a lack of care, and even hope for one’s demise causes mistrust.
😡 Obnoxious Aggression - an abundance of challenge, but a lack of care causes defensiveness.
🤕 Ruinous Empathy - an abundance of care, but a lack of challenge causes ignorance.
As I learned the negatives, I started to see the beauty of Radical Candor—the ability to challenge directly and show that you care personally in order to effectively impact.
It makes sense. Growth never happens through comfort. Kindness is not shown through passivity.
It happens through uncomfortable, honest, proactive conversations.
As Dave Ramsey shared in his leadership interview with Craig Groeschel:
To be unclear is to be unkind
Kindness is shown not in keeping the status quo, but in saying what needs to be heard.
Radical Candor is the sweet spot for growth and applies not only to work relationships, but also with family, personal relationships, and friends.
Do you have what it takes to live out Radical Candor?
It may hurt in the short run, having awkward conversations and digging deep, but in the long run, there will be a profound change that will impact your life and those around you.
Questions to ponder: 🤔
Is there a family connection, friendship, or relationship you’ve been living out one of the quadrants, besides Radical Candor?
What is one way you can express Radical Candor by challenging directly & caring personally this week?
Weekly Collections
A collection of resources for you to enjoy… 📰 🎬 🎙️
Faith
“The providence of God is most often ignored, sometimes despised, and occasionally prized. I wonder how the idea of his absolute sovereignty over all things, at all times, in all places falls on a heart like yours…
If God is entirely and eternally for us, not against us, then nothing could be sweeter than to know that he is totally and unavoidably sovereign.
This God rules and upholds the universe, he decides history, he governs the nations, he controls all things, and, in Christ, he loves you.”
—How Does Providence Make You Feel | DesiringGod
Silicon Valley’s Example of “Radical Candor”
A bad yet funny example of “Radical Candor”.
—Silicon Valley Season 5 - Underweight COO
Leadership Insight with Dave Ramsey
—Q&A with Dave Ramsey: Winning, Failing, and Success
Weekly Tidbits
Verses, quotes, and stuff to chew on… 🧐
Verse of the Week
"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
—Hebrews 12:11
Challenging Quote
“Winning has a price. And leadership has a price.
So I pulled people along when they didn’t want to be pulled. I challenged people when they didn’t want to be challenged. And I earned that right…
Once you join the team you live at a certain standard that I play the game (at) and I wasn’t going to take anything less…
I wanted to win but I wanted them to be a part of it as well.”
—Michael Jordan in The Last Dance
Weekly Update
Personal life stuff… 🔔
Hello friends,
And to all the new people, welcome! Greetings from Austin! 👋 Let’s jump right in!
This week is going to be a concise update. Here are some highlights:
Ending the One Desire Fast was sad 😥, so hoping to get back on a fast again soon, but I can’t lie, eating solids was so good. 😬
Had almost 10 vid calls/meet-ups in the past week to catch up with family, friends, and meet new entrepreneurs! Hope to not get overwhelmed but been loving the times. 🥰
Focusing a bit more on growth with the newsletter—steadily grown 10+ subscribers in the past two weeks! 📈 (thank you to everyone who’s subscribed recently, seriously appreciate y’all taking the time)
Memorized Philippians 2:1-18 from the One Desire Fast, and found the spiritual filling of the Word so good! 🙏
Usually, I would have a longer spiel, but I’m typing this up at 2 AM, and I need to rest to fix my sleep schedule. 😴 (being off social media fast meant a lot of catching up on YouTube videos 😅).
With that, here are several pictures from this past week: 📷
That’s all I have to share for this week. Thanks for reading to the end! It’s a pleasure to share with y’all my life, and hopefully, it is impactful!
As always, stay safe 😷, keep it savvy 😎, and I’ll see y’all in the next update 😊
Eric
If you enjoy the content, reply with your thoughts on it! It shows that the content I’m making is enjoyable, and also helps me know what resonated with you!