Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity

all teams need stability as well as growth to function properly; nothing works well if everyone is gunning for the next promotion.

when giving praise, investigate until you really understand who did what and why it was so great. Be as specific and thorough with praise as with criticism. Go deep into the details.

Their direct reports never know where they stand, and they aren’t being given an opportunity to learn or grow; they often stall or get fired.

Managerial capitalism is a relatively new phenomenon, so this human bond was not described by ancient philosophers. Even though almost everybody today has a boss at some point, the nature of this connection has gotten short shrift in philosophy, literature, movies, and all the other ways we explore the relationships that govern our lives. I want to

When bosses are too invested in everyone getting along, they also fail to encourage the people on their team to criticize one another for fear of sowing discord.

These were the painful mistakes I made in the story from the Introduction with Bob, whom I didn’t criticize and then had to fire.

Ruinously empathetic praise “Just trying to say something nice”

“I really admire that you are a Little League coach,” I said, offhandedly. I had been meaning to tell him this for a while, and it just popped into my head in the moment. He said, “Thank you.” Usually, that would’ve been that. But I realized later that my compliment had not been specific—I hadn’t told Russ why I admired that he was a coach. I menti

They’re pleasant to work with, but as time goes by their employees start to realize that the only guidance they’ve received is “good job” and other vaguely positive comments.