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occasion, I’m not interested in, nor
open to, your feedback. There are a
million cheap seats in the world today,
filled with people who will never be
brave with their own lives, but who will
spend every ounce of the energy they
have hurling advice and judgement at
those of us who are trying to dare greatly.”
How do you encourage your team to
come down from the cheap seats and
become more vulnerable? Before
your next meeting, provide everyone
with information about the decision
to be made as a result of the meeting.
Ask everyone to arrive at the meeting
with a perspective on the decision.
B y ac tively inviting team members
to do their research and prepare a
perspective ahead of time, this super-
charges discussions and accelerates
idea generation. Most importantly,
asking each person to disclose their
perspective makes sure that all team
members have to ‘get into the arena.’
They can’t just watch from the sidelines.
Team members are allowed to change
t heir minds as new informat ion is
presented. However, everyone’s got
something to lose, which makes them
a little more vulnerable and open to
vulnerability from others, providing
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space for increased authenticity and
empathy.
Building trust through honesty
In her groundbreaking work on building
more trusting and productive work-
places, author Kim Scott has a thing or
two to say about honesty. She’s built a
management philosophy, courses and
a company around it. Scott, who worked
in management at Apple and then
Google, explains her philosophy in a
book called Radical Candor. Being
radically candid helps satisfy both the
desire for increased authenticity and
empathy to build trust by being a
‘kick-ass boss without losing your
humanity’. She argues that society
undervalues the emotional challenges
of being a good boss, which is to say
the challenges involved in managing a
diverse team of people. “…at the very
heart of being a good boss – at Apple,
at Google, or anywhere else on earth
– is a good relationship.”
Scott reminds us that being the boss
means that it’s your responsibility to
guide your team to achieve results.
Guiding involves giving direction, giving
praise and also giving constructive
feedback (being radically candid) when
Kim Scott
the work just isn’t good enough. To be
a radically candid boss means both
caring personally for your team and
challenging them directly. Modern
management strategies, however,
sometimes steer leaders in the opposite
direction. She adds, “Unfortunately,
conventional wisdom and a lot of
management advice pushes bosses to
challenge less, rather than encouraging
them to care more.” Teams need to
know that the (sometimes harsh) feed-
back is coming from a place of support
and good faith. Strong leaders care
more while simultaneously challenging
more.
GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE | November 2019 | 17