I'm the 'Cool' Boss and It's Not Working 7 | 19

Radical Candor: Communication at Work

Radical Candor

Business, Management, Careers

4.7 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Are you the cool boss that everyone loves, but no one respects? Join Kim and Jason as they address a pressing question from a production supervisor struggling with their team's lack of accountability. Learn the importance of sharing personal stories, soliciting feedback, and giving timely criticism, all while remembering that accountability is an act of kindness. If you're struggling with setting boundaries and holding people accountable, we've got your back. Get all of the show notes at ⁠RadicalCandor.com/podcast⁠. Episode Links: ⁠Transcript⁠ Why Being a “Cool Boss” Backfires — And What to Do Instead ⁠Stuck In a Ruinous Empathy Rut 5 | 11 Navigating Workplace Tensions: Stuck Between Ruinous Empathy and Obnoxious Aggression Managing Resistance: How to Reset Expectations With Challenging Direct Reports Connect: ⁠Website⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠ Bluesky Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Kim and Jason introduce a listener’s question from a self-described “too nice” boss. (00:01:23) The Difference Between Nice and Kind The distinction between being "nice" and being "kind" in leadership. (00:03:13) Holding People Accountable How accountability is a core leadership skill, not an act of cruelty. (00:06:33) The Cost of Avoiding Accountability Why Leadership requires addressing difficult behaviors early. (00:11:39) Two Kinds of Respect: Earned vs. Given The two definitions of respect and how managers can earn it. (00:14:45) Emotional Labor of Leadership How management is giving more than you get—by design. (00:19:16) Confusing Strictness with Respect Challenging the misconception that punishment creates respect. (00:23:45) Holding Yourself Accountable Using vulnerability to open a dialogue and reset expectations. (00:25:44) Share Your Radical Candor Story Sharing personal stories to introduce a cultural reset. (00:28:27) Create a Shared Culture and Vocabulary Advice on resetting workplace culture and team alignment. (00:32:26) Radical Candor Tips Actionable steps for building a culture of Radical Candor. (00:33:24) Conclusion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void?
0:05.4	Well, with LinkedIn ads, you can know you're reaching the right decision makers.
0:09.1	You can even target them by job title, industry, company, role, seniority, skills, company revenue,
0:15.5	and do I say job title yet?
0:17.5	Get started today and see how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with
0:21.4	LinkedIn ads. To get £100 of your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com slash lead to claim
0:27.2	your credit. Terms and conditions apply. Amazon offers term time working to their employees,
0:34.0	like Anton, who's home to look after his daughters during their holidays.
0:40.3	Hello!
0:41.3	To him, this is the best sound in the world.
0:43.3	Dad!
0:44.3	Actually, maybe that's the best sound of all.
0:50.3	Now that's term time working.
0:53.3	Offered at Amazon. Ten weeks off guaranteed per year.
0:57.2	Mix of paid holiday and unpaid time off. Conditions apply. Hello everybody and welcome to the
1:06.1	Radical Canter podcast. I'm Kim Scott. I'm Jason Rozoff. And today we're tackling a question from the
1:12.3	Career Advice subreddit. A person who wrote in and identifies himself as a, quote,
1:18.3	nice and cool boss, but quote, in a bad way. This person wants to know how to become more strict
1:27.0	after having established this easy to get along with persona.
1:31.3	I'll read a little bit of what they wrote.
1:34.5	So I'm a production supervisor and I've recently gotten into hot water because my boss says I am not respected by the employees because I'm too nice and worried about being cool.
1:45.4	I'm not saying they are wrong, they are right.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Radical Candor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Radical Candor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.