Russ Laraway’s “Gravity Assist” Approach to Career Conversations 7 | 6

Radical Candor: Communication at Work

Radical Candor

Business, Management, Careers

4.7 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why most career conversations fail—and how to make them actually matter.

Are career conversations a game-changer, or just another corporate mirage? In part two of this two-part episode, Kim, Amy, and Russ Laraway cut through the fluff and expose why most career talks fail before they even start. Managers love to preach growth, but when it comes to actually helping their people build meaningful careers, too many fall flat. Russ brings the fire with his “gravity assist slingshot” method—forget the outdated career ladder, it’s time to propel people toward their real ambitions. Why do leaders dodge these conversations? Why does “career development” feel like an HR buzzword instead of a real priority? And what happens when you actually invest in your team’s future? No sugarcoating here—if you’re ready to stop playing it safe and start leading with impact, this episode is your wake-up call.

Get all of the show notes at RadicalCandor.com/podcast.

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Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction
Kim and Amy welcome back Russ Laraway to discuss career conversations.

(00:00:52) The Gravity Assist Slingshot
Russ’s framework for career growth and thinking beyond promotions.

(00:04:51) Why Managers Should Invest in Careers
How helping employees grow improves retention and engagement.

(00:09:35) The Three Career Conversations
A step-by-step guide to drive meaningful career development.

(00:14:20) Life Story Conversation
How past career pivots reveal deep-rooted motivations.

(00:20:52) Avoiding Pitfalls and Gotchas
Where leaders go wrong in the career development framework.

(00:25:25) Framing Career Conversations
Framing the life story conversation to build trust and respect boundaries.

(00:30:51) Finding True Career Vision
An outline of helping employees set bold, authentic goals.

(00:34:26) Supporting Unconventional Goals
How managers can turn unconventional career goals into actionable steps.

(00:43:43) Career Action Plan
Turning career aspirations into progress with a clear, strategic approach.

(00:46:27) Radical Candor Tips
Where managers should start in Russ’s career conversations framework.

(00:48:14) Conclusion

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, everybody. I'm Kim Scott. Welcome to the Radical Canter podcast. And I'm Amy Sandler. This week, we're back with Russ Laroie, author of When They Win, you win. Being a great manager is simpler than you think, talking about career conversations. If you haven't listened to the podcast episode before this one, or we chatted with
0:22.5	Russ, please go back and check it out. So, Russ, we want to first ask, when you talk about career,
0:29.6	you've used this phrase, Gravity Assist Slinghot. It was a real cliffhanger from our last
0:36.3	podcast. People are chomping at the bit. Tell us everything.
0:39.9	Well, first, I just want to acknowledge how embarrassed I am that I'm wearing the same clothes as last week.
0:45.8	I think we all are. I think we all are. I wear the same clothes every day. But I have no excuse.
0:50.8	Several of these. All right. Well, I apologize. I apologize. I wish I should have changed clothes.
0:55.3	I've been in these clothes for one week.
0:59.0	So gravity assist slingshot.
1:00.5	Love that.
1:01.1	Love that you picked that up.
1:02.4	So have either of you ever seen a space movie?
1:06.6	Yes.
1:07.1	Yes.
1:07.7	Have you?
1:08.1	Okay.
1:09.1	What, in the context of every single space movie ever made, what do you think the gravity
1:15.1	assistling shot means in the movie?
1:16.9	Amy, you want to take a crack?
1:18.2	I don't want to put you on the spot, but what do they usually mean?
1:21.1	What's going on in the space movie when they do the gravity assistling shot?
1:24.8	Do you know?
	...

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