February 11, 2025 • 23 mins
We’re continuing with the #LeaderSHIFT series on the podcast this week. These episodes are very direct & to the point, where we'll talk about the different challenges leaders tend to face & how to shift into becoming an influential leader who leads a healthy culture & engaged team!
In this episode, I’m sharing how you can shift from being reluctant to radical in your leadership practices!
MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:
Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-A** Boss Without Losing Your Humanity: https://amzn.to/4aSXS6e
Radical Candor Masterclass: Tackle the Hard Conversations: https://www.masterclass.com/sessions/classes/tackle-the-hard-conversations-with-radical-candor
Need one-on-one help with navigating being a new leader? Schedule your complimentary clarity call with me here!
www.baproinc.com/ep165
Apply to join the New Leader, BIG IMPACT Coaching Program to level up your leadership & build an engaging team... even if the culture is toxic & without management's support!
https://baproinc.com/newleaderbigimpact
Questions about this episode? Topic suggestions for future episodes? Send them to culture@businessadvocatespro.com
Let's chat about this episode on “X”: @BAPROINC or IG: @CultureBuildingPRO
The Culture Building like a PRO Podcast: Simple ways to transform your company culture... Today!
| Company Culture | Culture Building | Organizational Culture | Employee Engagement | Effective Leadership | Servant Leadership |
baproinc.com
In this episode, I’m sharing how you can shift from being reluctant to radical in your leadership practices!
MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:
Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-A** Boss Without Losing Your Humanity: https://amzn.to/4aSXS6e
Radical Candor Masterclass: Tackle the Hard Conversations: https://www.masterclass.com/sessions/classes/tackle-the-hard-conversations-with-radical-candor
Need one-on-one help with navigating being a new leader? Schedule your complimentary clarity call with me here!
www.baproinc.com/ep165
Apply to join the New Leader, BIG IMPACT Coaching Program to level up your leadership & build an engaging team... even if the culture is toxic & without management's support!
https://baproinc.com/newleaderbigimpact
Questions about this episode? Topic suggestions for future episodes? Send them to culture@businessadvocatespro.com
Let's chat about this episode on “X”: @BAPROINC or IG: @CultureBuildingPRO
The Culture Building like a PRO Podcast: Simple ways to transform your company culture... Today!
| Company Culture | Culture Building | Organizational Culture | Employee Engagement | Effective Leadership | Servant Leadership |
baproinc.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Culture Building Like a Pro podcast, helping
small business owners and managers lead a company culture where
employees are engaged to do their best work because they
want to and not because they have to. Now, let's
jumpstart your culture transformation with company culture strategists, leadership coach
(00:24):
and trainer Deanna Appling.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Happy Tuesday, and thanks for listening to the Culture Building
Like a Pro podcast. I'm Deanna and I'm excited to
be back with you this week and back with another
episode in the hash tag Leadershift series. The series was
created to talk about common challenges that we tend to
face as leaders, the ones that just don't get talked
about enough, and how we can overcome them. But more importantly,
(00:52):
we talk about how you can shift into the level
of leadership that creates an impact and influences excellence among
your team. If you've been listening to this podcast for
any length of time, then something you may already know
about me is I like books, and I especially like
(01:12):
books that center around development, professional development, skill development, just
overall becoming better in what we do. And because I
love books and all things learning and growing in leadership
and just overall as a person and a professional, I
(01:32):
have recommended a few books here on this podcast in
various episodes, some that I highly suggest that every leader
or professional listen to. I have episodes that are specifically
tailored to some of those books, and more importantly, I
have books that I recommend for specific areas of leadership.
(01:55):
One book that I have come across that I haven't
taught about yet on the podcast is a book that
I believe every person, professional and leader should read. And
this book is called Radical Candor by Kim Scott. You
may have heard of this book. There are actually other
(02:18):
resources that have derived from this book, but it's such
a great resource to have, especially if you're in the workforce,
and at least for me, when I first got introduced
to it, the title made me curious, Radical Candor. It
was worded in a way where I wouldn't think of,
(02:41):
you know, candor being radical first and foremost, But even
the term radical itself sparked my interest. It got me
wondering why that specific word, why is that a part
of this title? And in true Deanna fashion, I had
to look into radical to know the exact definition. Of course,
(03:04):
I understand what it means, but I wanted the exact definition,
especially to be able to share with you. So the
definition of radical is especially of change or action relating
to or affecting the fundamental nature of something far reaching
or thorough. And I love the fact that this word
(03:26):
was used in the title of this book because I
believe that all of the tips the insight that was
given definitely reflect that it's far reaching and thorough approach
to how we interact with people more than anything and
this book, and also I want to mention that there
(03:48):
is also a master class on this book as well,
which I have taken and I think that everyone should take.
So I'll leave a link to the master class with
Kim Scott in the show notes so that you can
check it out for yourself. But it is very, very
(04:08):
engaging and just gives you a different means of understanding
how radical candor is not only impactful in your work life,
but also how it can be seen and implemented in
different situations. Because I was so inspired by the masterclass itself.
(04:30):
I had read the book, but the masterclass gave me
a different set of lenses when it came to radical candor.
It inspired me to make this episode, but specifically shifting
from being reluctant to radical. And I'll explain what I
mean by this, something that I feel most new leaders face.
(04:52):
I definitely faced it myself, and you may have even
faced it or are currently facing it, even if you've
been in leadership for while. But there's this tug of
war that starts to happen when you're in your leadership role,
and it's between playing its safe and leading boldly. It's
so easy to be reluctant in avoiding shaking things up
(05:17):
or sticking to what's comfortable for you or comfortable for
the team. But at some point it becomes very important
to step back and really discover how we can become
radical in our leadership approach to unlock the potential of
our team and truly make an impact. So that's what
(05:38):
we're going to dive intoday. Now. When I say radical
in leadership, I'm talking about radical in the sense of
the definition that we just went over, being far reaching, thorough,
and transformational more than anything. How do you go beyond
surface level actions and activities and start to really create transformation.
(06:03):
Being radical is not about being aggressive, it's not about
being overbearing. It's not about being feared, certainly by your team.
It's simply about being intentional, impactful, and being willing to
lead into the work of leading people effectively, meaning being
(06:24):
a leader who prioritizes relationships while you're also driving results.
That's not always easy to do, but it definitely requires
intention and it can be done. It also means speaking
the truth, but with care and clarity, so not just
being brutally honest as we hear people say, but to
(06:47):
show that you're human while you're leading. And it also
means building a culture that thrives on engagement and vulnerability
and an environment of accountability. We're going to talk about
how you can lead radically instead of being reluctant in
(07:08):
your leadership, and approach leadership with authenticity, intention, and boldness.
So there are five areas that we are going to
talk about and give you some action steps to implement now.
Instead of waiting for the perfect time or waiting for
the perfect scenario. We're going to talk about the five
(07:30):
key areas of leadership and how you can shift into
being radical in them. The first one is radical leadership itself,
and this specifically means how you can lead with purpose
and intention. Reluctant leaders tend to shy away from decisions.
They don't want to deal with the decision making because
(07:52):
it can sometimes be uncomfortable and even overwhelming, and so
this leads to waiting for others to take the lead.
While being a radical leader on the other hand, it
means that you take ownership and you act with intention.
This doesn't mean that you always have the answers, or
you may be don't even know what is the best
(08:14):
decision to make. But because you know your purpose and
because you know you're in goal, you're able to lead
and make decisions more clearly and have the courage to
do so even if you aren't one hundred percent sure
of the outcome. So the best way to do this
is to have what I call an anchor, and that's
(08:36):
by one having a leadership vision, which I've talked about
several times on the podcast, but also defining what your
values are. What are your values yourself as a leader,
and what are the values of the team, and make
sure that that is communicated to the team. So, for example,
(08:56):
if transparency is a core value that has been decided on,
you can show this by sharing the why behind certain
decisions that you make, and when you're ever in a
situation where you have to make a decision, you're not
quite sure if it's the right one, and you're really
just trying to figure it out process how you should
(09:19):
go about making this decision. You can ask yourself, am
I leading in alignment with the leader that I want
to be? If you've already determined that transparency is a
core value, asking yourself that question, am I leading in
alignment with the leader I want to be? Means also
asking yourself or reflecting that to am I leading transparently
(09:43):
because that's the leader that I've decided I want it
to be. Now, as far as implementing radical leadership by
leading with purpose and intention, I challenge you to start
your week by identifying just one area that you've been
had the ten end in your leadership journey. Whether that's
(10:03):
addressing some conflict that has taken place on your team,
or if it's a change or a new idea that
you've been avoiding implementing, but you know it'll be impactful
and it'll be helpful, Be intentional, take action and cross
reference that one area that you've been hesitant in with
(10:26):
your leadership vision and the core values that you've determined.
The next area is radical engagement. This simply means investing
in true connection. And I do emphasize true because we
can be very surface level in the workplace, which you know,
(10:46):
we understand why we want to keep boundaries, or we
think we want to maintain a certain level of professionalism,
and so sometimes that can allow us to keep things
very surface, no depth, no substance. But engagement isn't about
team building activities and having a pizza party. It's about
(11:09):
understanding what drives your team, connecting with them, and creating
a space where they can grow and thrive. So, for example,
if you have a team member who seems to be
struggling with being confident in meetings, they don't speak up
as much when you ask for their input. They seem
(11:29):
perhaps a bit timid or just completely unsure of themselves.
This is an opportunity for you to help coach them
on how they can share their ideas, help them with
their presentation skills, and celebrate their small wins as they go.
Engagement starts with empathy, and you can show your team
(11:52):
that you care while also being professional by just simply
taking action on the feedback that they give you and
seeking to understand them and to be of service to them,
and a way to do this is to make it
a point to get to know each of your team
members on a deeper level. You can do this when
(12:12):
you have your one on one meetings, which I highly
encourage that you do if you don't already have implemented
with you and your team. I recommend doing this at
least bi weekly, but you can certainly do it weekly
as well. There's no harm in that, and make it
a point to understand what their goals are, what are
their challenges, and get to know them more, what are
(12:33):
their motivators. As I have always said, employee engagement is
not an HR responsibility, and it's not a survey. It
is a leadership responsibility, and it is something that has
to be embedded in how you approach your team in
order to see transformation. Number three is radical culture building.
(12:56):
Build a foundation that lasts. Culture does not happen by accident.
It takes intention and daily actions and decisions to build
a healthy culture. It's the norms that are created, not
necessarily said. Oftentimes, people correlate a company's culture to what's
(13:21):
on their website, a poster that's hung in the office,
and those are just words. It is not what the
culture is. The culture of a company and the culture
of a team is literally the unspoken norms how we operate,
the things that we have deemed acceptable and normal, and
(13:42):
how we interact with each other and how we work together.
To build radical culture, it requires you to be intentional, consistent,
and more importantly, willing to challenge the status quo. And
you do have to have courage to do so, because
it is very easy for us to just do things
the way we've always done it. But that's the essence
(14:05):
of being radical in our approach being thorough, we want
to go a step further and actually build a culture
that lasts. You can set the tone for your team's
culture by modeling the behaviors that you want to see, because,
after all, leadership is about influence, and you influence not
(14:25):
just by what you say. In fact, on what you
say is a very very small aspect of influence. It's
more about what you do. So if you want a
culture of accountability, take responsibility for your own actions, decisions,
and even mistakes. If you want to reinforce a positive,
we win environment, then you take the first step and
(14:49):
celebrate the wins of your team, big or small. On
a regular basis. Now to take that next step and
to focus on radical culture building, I encourage you to
get your team involved, get their buy in, have discussions
about the health of your team's culture with your team,
(15:10):
and you can ask a simple question to open that door,
such as does this environment support our values and goals?
Have your team involved in determining what the norms are,
what are the values, what are our goals? Together and
hold each other accountable with aligning the actions, behaviors, and
(15:31):
decision making to that. The fourth area is radical vulnerability
embrace authenticity. Vulnerability can be such a in essense trigger
word for most people, especially when it comes to the workplace,
(15:52):
because it's seen as being passive or weak. But to
shift into being a radical leader, it means understanding that
vulnerability is a strength. It simply means being honest and
real about your challenges, mistakes, and being human. This creates
(16:15):
trust and builds that connection or engagement with your team.
If your team feels like they're expected to be robots
and shut off their humanity at work. This also means
that their authentic selves, which is them as a whole,
meaning who they are as a person, not just who
they are as a professional now has to be hidden,
(16:37):
and this doesn't mean talking about feelings all of the time.
It can mean sharing lessons learned. This is something that
you can do one on one with your team or
maybe in group meetings. You can start your meetings by
having a lessons learned moment, sharing something that you've recently
learned and how you can encourage others to adopt that
(17:00):
same attitude or result in what they do. Another way
to practice radical vulnerability in your leadership is to be
authentic with sharing your leadership journey. Be open about what
you've gone through. If you learned a new skill, and
perhaps this is something that you've struggled with for a
long time, and maybe it's public speaking or presentations, let
(17:25):
your team know about that and invite them to share
their own growths and pain points throughout their journey as well.
And also another area that gets missed a lot in
leadership is admitting your mistakes, but more importantly, admitting them
with confidence. There is power and ownership, and you can
(17:47):
showcase this to your team by admitting what you may
have done wrong or a mistake that you've made, but
following it up with here's what I learned and how
I plan to improve. That powerful statement on its own
shows your team that they don't have to run or
(18:09):
hide from the mistakes that they make, but they can
use them as stepping stones in their growth. And I
think that as a leader, that's something that you would
likely want your team to have. And the fifth way
that you can shift from being reluctant to radical in
your leadership is practicing radical candor. As I mentioned, this
(18:34):
book by Kim Scott is a must read for anyone
in the workforce, but especially for leaders and the masterclass
please check that out as well. But practicing radical candor
simply means speaking the truth with care. Oftentimes we are
faced with and maybe don't shy away from speaking the truth,
(18:56):
but can we honestly say we do it with care?
And as a leader, that is a very important aspect
of how we show our team how to lead and
how we bring out the best out of them. Feedback
is such an important factor in leadership, but many of
us struggle with how to balance being honest with being empathetic,
(19:20):
and practicing radical candor is about caring about the people
that we are dealing with that we lead while challenging
them as well, So how would this look in your
day to day leadership practices. Let's say you have someone
on your team who has been missing deadlines frequently. Practicing
(19:43):
radical candor in this situation would mean don't avoid the conversation,
but instead you can approach it directly and with care.
So you could say something like, I noticed that there's
a pattern, and I want to understand how I can
support you in meeting the expectation. So, yes, you approached
(20:05):
the situation head on, but you did it with care
and you offered support, which ultimately makes it a better
environment for your employee to have a conversation with you
about it and not become defensive. So you can continue
to practice radical candor by making sure your feedback is clear, actionable,
(20:29):
and delivered with care. And something that can help you
do this a bit easier is incorporating the SBI method.
SBI stands for Situation, Behavior and Impact. So this is
how the SBI method would look. If you're approaching an
employee about a situation, you would say, Hi, Susie, in
(20:54):
yesterday's meeting, you interrupted, Jane. It disrupted the flow of
the discussion. Let's work on improving this together. So in
that sentence, the situation was what happened in the meeting.
Saying you interrupted Jane is the behavior that's identified and
(21:15):
it disrupted the flow of the conversation or discussion. Is
the impact of what happened. So if you're struggling with
exactly how to phrase your words when you do have
to approach someone and you want to resolve a situation
and speak with care, that is a good way to
(21:36):
practice doing so. SBI Situation Behavior Impact. If you found
this episode helpful, I would love it if you could
share this episode with someone you think would benefit from
it also, and you can also leave an honest rating
a review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening from.
(21:57):
The links for Radical Candor the book as well as
the Radical Candor Masterclass will be left in the show notes.
And again, I highly highly recommend that you make it
a priority to check this out. I do believe that
this approach to leading and just simply interacting with care
(22:19):
is what's needed to be an impactful leader. Remember that
radical leadership is not just about driving results and reaching
the goal, but it's about creating a culture where people
feel valued, challenged, and inspired to do their best. Work
because they want to and not just because they have to.
(22:40):
And you can help cultivate this by stepping out of
that box of reluctancy and being radical in your leadership practices.
The sooner that you focus on building a deeper level
of trust and engagement with your team, creating a healthy,
(23:00):
thriving culture of accountability and collaboration, and positioning yourself as
a leader who makes an impact is not going to
just help your team, but it's going to help your
organization and it's going to help you become the leader
that you truly aspire to be. That's a great week.
Welcome to the Culture Building Like a Pro podcast, helping
small business owners and managers lead a company culture where
employees are engaged to do their best work because they
want to and not because they have to. Now, let's
jumpstart your culture transformation with company culture strategists, leadership coach
(00:24):
and trainer Deanna Appling.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Happy Tuesday, and thanks for listening to the Culture Building
Like a Pro podcast. I'm Deanna and I'm excited to
be back with you this week and back with another
episode in the hash tag Leadershift series. The series was
created to talk about common challenges that we tend to
face as leaders, the ones that just don't get talked
about enough, and how we can overcome them. But more importantly,
(00:52):
we talk about how you can shift into the level
of leadership that creates an impact and influences excellence among
your team. If you've been listening to this podcast for
any length of time, then something you may already know
about me is I like books, and I especially like
(01:12):
books that center around development, professional development, skill development, just
overall becoming better in what we do. And because I
love books and all things learning and growing in leadership
and just overall as a person and a professional, I
(01:32):
have recommended a few books here on this podcast in
various episodes, some that I highly suggest that every leader
or professional listen to. I have episodes that are specifically
tailored to some of those books, and more importantly, I
have books that I recommend for specific areas of leadership.
(01:55):
One book that I have come across that I haven't
taught about yet on the podcast is a book that
I believe every person, professional and leader should read. And
this book is called Radical Candor by Kim Scott. You
may have heard of this book. There are actually other
(02:18):
resources that have derived from this book, but it's such
a great resource to have, especially if you're in the workforce,
and at least for me, when I first got introduced
to it, the title made me curious, Radical Candor. It
was worded in a way where I wouldn't think of,
(02:41):
you know, candor being radical first and foremost, But even
the term radical itself sparked my interest. It got me
wondering why that specific word, why is that a part
of this title? And in true Deanna fashion, I had
to look into radical to know the exact definition. Of course,
(03:04):
I understand what it means, but I wanted the exact definition,
especially to be able to share with you. So the
definition of radical is especially of change or action relating
to or affecting the fundamental nature of something far reaching
or thorough. And I love the fact that this word
(03:26):
was used in the title of this book because I
believe that all of the tips the insight that was
given definitely reflect that it's far reaching and thorough approach
to how we interact with people more than anything and
this book, and also I want to mention that there
(03:48):
is also a master class on this book as well,
which I have taken and I think that everyone should take.
So I'll leave a link to the master class with
Kim Scott in the show notes so that you can
check it out for yourself. But it is very, very
(04:08):
engaging and just gives you a different means of understanding
how radical candor is not only impactful in your work life,
but also how it can be seen and implemented in
different situations. Because I was so inspired by the masterclass itself.
(04:30):
I had read the book, but the masterclass gave me
a different set of lenses when it came to radical candor.
It inspired me to make this episode, but specifically shifting
from being reluctant to radical. And I'll explain what I
mean by this, something that I feel most new leaders face.
(04:52):
I definitely faced it myself, and you may have even
faced it or are currently facing it, even if you've
been in leadership for while. But there's this tug of
war that starts to happen when you're in your leadership role,
and it's between playing its safe and leading boldly. It's
so easy to be reluctant in avoiding shaking things up
(05:17):
or sticking to what's comfortable for you or comfortable for
the team. But at some point it becomes very important
to step back and really discover how we can become
radical in our leadership approach to unlock the potential of
our team and truly make an impact. So that's what
(05:38):
we're going to dive intoday. Now. When I say radical
in leadership, I'm talking about radical in the sense of
the definition that we just went over, being far reaching, thorough,
and transformational more than anything. How do you go beyond
surface level actions and activities and start to really create transformation.
(06:03):
Being radical is not about being aggressive, it's not about
being overbearing. It's not about being feared, certainly by your team.
It's simply about being intentional, impactful, and being willing to
lead into the work of leading people effectively, meaning being
(06:24):
a leader who prioritizes relationships while you're also driving results.
That's not always easy to do, but it definitely requires
intention and it can be done. It also means speaking
the truth, but with care and clarity, so not just
being brutally honest as we hear people say, but to
(06:47):
show that you're human while you're leading. And it also
means building a culture that thrives on engagement and vulnerability
and an environment of accountability. We're going to talk about
how you can lead radically instead of being reluctant in
(07:08):
your leadership, and approach leadership with authenticity, intention, and boldness.
So there are five areas that we are going to
talk about and give you some action steps to implement now.
Instead of waiting for the perfect time or waiting for
the perfect scenario. We're going to talk about the five
(07:30):
key areas of leadership and how you can shift into
being radical in them. The first one is radical leadership itself,
and this specifically means how you can lead with purpose
and intention. Reluctant leaders tend to shy away from decisions.
They don't want to deal with the decision making because
(07:52):
it can sometimes be uncomfortable and even overwhelming, and so
this leads to waiting for others to take the lead.
While being a radical leader on the other hand, it
means that you take ownership and you act with intention.
This doesn't mean that you always have the answers, or
you may be don't even know what is the best
(08:14):
decision to make. But because you know your purpose and
because you know you're in goal, you're able to lead
and make decisions more clearly and have the courage to
do so even if you aren't one hundred percent sure
of the outcome. So the best way to do this
is to have what I call an anchor, and that's
(08:36):
by one having a leadership vision, which I've talked about
several times on the podcast, but also defining what your
values are. What are your values yourself as a leader,
and what are the values of the team, and make
sure that that is communicated to the team. So, for example,
(08:56):
if transparency is a core value that has been decided on,
you can show this by sharing the why behind certain
decisions that you make, and when you're ever in a
situation where you have to make a decision, you're not
quite sure if it's the right one, and you're really
just trying to figure it out process how you should
(09:19):
go about making this decision. You can ask yourself, am
I leading in alignment with the leader that I want
to be? If you've already determined that transparency is a
core value, asking yourself that question, am I leading in
alignment with the leader I want to be? Means also
asking yourself or reflecting that to am I leading transparently
(09:43):
because that's the leader that I've decided I want it
to be. Now, as far as implementing radical leadership by
leading with purpose and intention, I challenge you to start
your week by identifying just one area that you've been
had the ten end in your leadership journey. Whether that's
(10:03):
addressing some conflict that has taken place on your team,
or if it's a change or a new idea that
you've been avoiding implementing, but you know it'll be impactful
and it'll be helpful, Be intentional, take action and cross
reference that one area that you've been hesitant in with
(10:26):
your leadership vision and the core values that you've determined.
The next area is radical engagement. This simply means investing
in true connection. And I do emphasize true because we
can be very surface level in the workplace, which you know,
(10:46):
we understand why we want to keep boundaries, or we
think we want to maintain a certain level of professionalism,
and so sometimes that can allow us to keep things
very surface, no depth, no substance. But engagement isn't about
team building activities and having a pizza party. It's about
(11:09):
understanding what drives your team, connecting with them, and creating
a space where they can grow and thrive. So, for example,
if you have a team member who seems to be
struggling with being confident in meetings, they don't speak up
as much when you ask for their input. They seem
(11:29):
perhaps a bit timid or just completely unsure of themselves.
This is an opportunity for you to help coach them
on how they can share their ideas, help them with
their presentation skills, and celebrate their small wins as they go.
Engagement starts with empathy, and you can show your team
(11:52):
that you care while also being professional by just simply
taking action on the feedback that they give you and
seeking to understand them and to be of service to them,
and a way to do this is to make it
a point to get to know each of your team
members on a deeper level. You can do this when
(12:12):
you have your one on one meetings, which I highly
encourage that you do if you don't already have implemented
with you and your team. I recommend doing this at
least bi weekly, but you can certainly do it weekly
as well. There's no harm in that, and make it
a point to understand what their goals are, what are
their challenges, and get to know them more, what are
(12:33):
their motivators. As I have always said, employee engagement is
not an HR responsibility, and it's not a survey. It
is a leadership responsibility, and it is something that has
to be embedded in how you approach your team in
order to see transformation. Number three is radical culture building.
(12:56):
Build a foundation that lasts. Culture does not happen by accident.
It takes intention and daily actions and decisions to build
a healthy culture. It's the norms that are created, not
necessarily said. Oftentimes, people correlate a company's culture to what's
(13:21):
on their website, a poster that's hung in the office,
and those are just words. It is not what the
culture is. The culture of a company and the culture
of a team is literally the unspoken norms how we operate,
the things that we have deemed acceptable and normal, and
(13:42):
how we interact with each other and how we work together.
To build radical culture, it requires you to be intentional, consistent,
and more importantly, willing to challenge the status quo. And
you do have to have courage to do so, because
it is very easy for us to just do things
the way we've always done it. But that's the essence
(14:05):
of being radical in our approach being thorough, we want
to go a step further and actually build a culture
that lasts. You can set the tone for your team's
culture by modeling the behaviors that you want to see, because,
after all, leadership is about influence, and you influence not
(14:25):
just by what you say. In fact, on what you
say is a very very small aspect of influence. It's
more about what you do. So if you want a
culture of accountability, take responsibility for your own actions, decisions,
and even mistakes. If you want to reinforce a positive,
we win environment, then you take the first step and
(14:49):
celebrate the wins of your team, big or small. On
a regular basis. Now to take that next step and
to focus on radical culture building, I encourage you to
get your team involved, get their buy in, have discussions
about the health of your team's culture with your team,
(15:10):
and you can ask a simple question to open that door,
such as does this environment support our values and goals?
Have your team involved in determining what the norms are,
what are the values, what are our goals? Together and
hold each other accountable with aligning the actions, behaviors, and
(15:31):
decision making to that. The fourth area is radical vulnerability
embrace authenticity. Vulnerability can be such a in essense trigger
word for most people, especially when it comes to the workplace,
(15:52):
because it's seen as being passive or weak. But to
shift into being a radical leader, it means understanding that
vulnerability is a strength. It simply means being honest and
real about your challenges, mistakes, and being human. This creates
(16:15):
trust and builds that connection or engagement with your team.
If your team feels like they're expected to be robots
and shut off their humanity at work. This also means
that their authentic selves, which is them as a whole,
meaning who they are as a person, not just who
they are as a professional now has to be hidden,
(16:37):
and this doesn't mean talking about feelings all of the time.
It can mean sharing lessons learned. This is something that
you can do one on one with your team or
maybe in group meetings. You can start your meetings by
having a lessons learned moment, sharing something that you've recently
learned and how you can encourage others to adopt that
(17:00):
same attitude or result in what they do. Another way
to practice radical vulnerability in your leadership is to be
authentic with sharing your leadership journey. Be open about what
you've gone through. If you learned a new skill, and
perhaps this is something that you've struggled with for a
long time, and maybe it's public speaking or presentations, let
(17:25):
your team know about that and invite them to share
their own growths and pain points throughout their journey as well.
And also another area that gets missed a lot in
leadership is admitting your mistakes, but more importantly, admitting them
with confidence. There is power and ownership, and you can
(17:47):
showcase this to your team by admitting what you may
have done wrong or a mistake that you've made, but
following it up with here's what I learned and how
I plan to improve. That powerful statement on its own
shows your team that they don't have to run or
(18:09):
hide from the mistakes that they make, but they can
use them as stepping stones in their growth. And I
think that as a leader, that's something that you would
likely want your team to have. And the fifth way
that you can shift from being reluctant to radical in
your leadership is practicing radical candor. As I mentioned, this
(18:34):
book by Kim Scott is a must read for anyone
in the workforce, but especially for leaders and the masterclass
please check that out as well. But practicing radical candor
simply means speaking the truth with care. Oftentimes we are
faced with and maybe don't shy away from speaking the truth,
(18:56):
but can we honestly say we do it with care?
And as a leader, that is a very important aspect
of how we show our team how to lead and
how we bring out the best out of them. Feedback
is such an important factor in leadership, but many of
us struggle with how to balance being honest with being empathetic,
(19:20):
and practicing radical candor is about caring about the people
that we are dealing with that we lead while challenging
them as well, So how would this look in your
day to day leadership practices. Let's say you have someone
on your team who has been missing deadlines frequently. Practicing
(19:43):
radical candor in this situation would mean don't avoid the conversation,
but instead you can approach it directly and with care.
So you could say something like, I noticed that there's
a pattern, and I want to understand how I can
support you in meeting the expectation. So, yes, you approached
(20:05):
the situation head on, but you did it with care
and you offered support, which ultimately makes it a better
environment for your employee to have a conversation with you
about it and not become defensive. So you can continue
to practice radical candor by making sure your feedback is clear, actionable,
(20:29):
and delivered with care. And something that can help you
do this a bit easier is incorporating the SBI method.
SBI stands for Situation, Behavior and Impact. So this is
how the SBI method would look. If you're approaching an
employee about a situation, you would say, Hi, Susie, in
(20:54):
yesterday's meeting, you interrupted, Jane. It disrupted the flow of
the discussion. Let's work on improving this together. So in
that sentence, the situation was what happened in the meeting.
Saying you interrupted Jane is the behavior that's identified and
(21:15):
it disrupted the flow of the conversation or discussion. Is
the impact of what happened. So if you're struggling with
exactly how to phrase your words when you do have
to approach someone and you want to resolve a situation
and speak with care, that is a good way to
(21:36):
practice doing so. SBI Situation Behavior Impact. If you found
this episode helpful, I would love it if you could
share this episode with someone you think would benefit from
it also, and you can also leave an honest rating
a review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening from.
(21:57):
The links for Radical Candor the book as well as
the Radical Candor Masterclass will be left in the show notes.
And again, I highly highly recommend that you make it
a priority to check this out. I do believe that
this approach to leading and just simply interacting with care
(22:19):
is what's needed to be an impactful leader. Remember that
radical leadership is not just about driving results and reaching
the goal, but it's about creating a culture where people
feel valued, challenged, and inspired to do their best. Work
because they want to and not just because they have to.
(22:40):
And you can help cultivate this by stepping out of
that box of reluctancy and being radical in your leadership practices.
The sooner that you focus on building a deeper level
of trust and engagement with your team, creating a healthy,
(23:00):
thriving culture of accountability and collaboration, and positioning yourself as
a leader who makes an impact is not going to
just help your team, but it's going to help your
organization and it's going to help you become the leader
that you truly aspire to be. That's a great week.
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