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Kim Scott

Author & Executive Coach at Radical Candor / Former Google, Apple University

Kim Scott is the author of Radical Candor, the single most referenced book on Lenny's Podcast, which has sold over 1 million copies and been translated into 23 languages. She was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, and Twitter, a faculty member at Apple University, and led AdSense, YouTube, and DoubleClick teams at Google.

The Org Builder The Craftsperson

Dimension Profile

Strategic Vision 50%
Execution & Craft 55%
Data & Experimentation 25%
Growth & Distribution 30%
Team & Leadership 95%
User Empathy & Research 70%

Key Themes

radical candor framework ruinous empathy as most common mistake obnoxious aggression vs caring soliciting feedback effectively manipulative insincerity trap caring personally while challenging directly

Episode Summary

Kim Scott, author of the million-copy bestseller Radical Candor, gets deeply practical and tactical about how to practice the framework. She reveals that 90% of feedback failures are ruinous empathy — caring too much about feelings to be honest — not obnoxious aggression. Her key advice: ask 'What could I do or stop doing that would make it easier to work with me?' in your own authentic voice, and use the framework as a compass rather than a judgment tool.

Leadership Principles

  • → Radical Candor is caring personally and challenging directly at the same time — most people fail on one dimension or both daily
  • → 90% of mistakes fall into ruinous empathy — caring but not being honest — which is far more common than obnoxious aggression
  • → Don't ask 'Do you have any feedback for me?' — ask 'What could I do or stop doing that would make it easier to work with me?'

Notable Quotes

"Don't ask 'Do you have any feedback for me?' You're wasting your breath. Ask 'What could I do or stop doing that would make it easier to work with me?' Do not write down my question — it needs to sound authentic to you."

— On the specific language to use when soliciting feedback from your team

"90% of us make 90% of our mistakes in the ruinous empathy bucket. We care personally but we're so worried about hurting someone's feelings that we fail to tell them something they'd be better off knowing in the long run."

— On why ruinous empathy — not obnoxious aggression — is the most pervasive problem

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