Talking to Flat Earthers: Managing Post-Election Tension at Work With Denise Hamilton 6 | 43

Radical Candor: Communication at Work

Radical Candor

Business, Management, Careers

4.7 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2024

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Examining and expanding our capacity to hold different beliefs. If we decide we’re going to stop talking to the flat earthers, the only people they have left to talk to are other flat earthers. So that super imposes and reinforces the concepts in a circle, and you’re never going to penetrate or get any kind of connection, reconnection with that person. We have to stay in relationship.

Brace yourself—this episode is all about navigating workplace tension with Radical Candor. Kim and Amy team up with Denise Hamilton, author of Indivisible: How to Forge Our Differences Into a Stronger Future, to tackle the complicated landscape of workplace polarization and the radical power of respect. Denise, known for her "irrational optimism," sheds light on how we can bridge deep divides, even when it feels impossible and that respect isn’t something earned through understanding—it’s the baseline that makes understanding possible. They explore why caring personally means building trust, even when opinions clash, and how we can create workplaces that honor both individual voices and collective purpose. With Denise’s wisdom and Kim’s Radical Candor principles, this episode digs into the tough conversations leaders often avoid but desperately need. If you’ve ever felt the strain of differing views at work, this conversation is for you—because staying connected is the only way forward.

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

Episode Links:

Connect:

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction
Kim and Amy introduce Denise Hamilton, author of Indivisible.

(00:03:32) Discussing Politics at Work
Insights into the discomfort around political conversations in professional settings.

(00:05:01) Contradictory Messages
The conflicting messages people face around authenticity at work.

(00:07:22) Building a Respectful Work Culture
How workplace culture influences political discussions.

(00:10:59) Personal and Workplace Boundaries
Balancing personal beliefs and professionalism at work.

(00:12:59) The Role of Respect in Understanding
Respect as the foundation for understanding others.

(00:16:42) Holding Space for Emotions Post-Election
The importance of allowing emotional expression at work after tense events.

(00:21:36) Leaders Counteracting Negativity
The role leaders play in intentionally fostering positivity.

(00:24:03) Common Ground in Heated Times
Finding common ground with people who hold different views.

(00:27:05) Approaching Sensitive Topics Mindfully
Denise shares her “four-question rubric” for starting difficult conversations.

(00:31:52) Navigating Information Curation
The pitfalls of curated news and incomplete information.

(00:35:43) Misinformation and a Leader’s Responsibility
How leaders should address misinformation in their organizations.

(00:39:23) Owning vs. Renting: Social Responsibility
Adopting a long-term, invested mindset for societal change.

(00:44:06) The Vision for a Relationship-Centered Future
Hope for a future rooted in personal connections and humanity.

(00:46:05) Conclusion

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Radical Cander podcast. I'm Kim Scott.
0:07.8	I'm Amy Sandler, and today we are so excited to welcome Denise Hamilton. Denise is an author,
0:14.5	speaker, and consultant with 25 years of executive experience with Fortune 500 organizations.
0:21.0	Denise has been featured by the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, MSNBC's Morning
0:25.7	Joe, MIT Sloan Management, NBC Newsweek, Fox, CBS, so many other outlets.
0:30.9	And most exciting, at least to me, wonderful book recently published called Indivisible,
0:37.4	How to Forge Our Differences
0:39.3	into a Stronger Future.
0:42.0	And Denise, you have described yourself as an irrationally optimistic believer in our
0:47.7	ability to solve problems rather than just name them.
0:51.6	Your superpower is the ability to discuss challenging topics and come out the
0:56.2	other side with positive direction and solutions. And I want to locate you all in the timing.
1:02.3	We are recording this podcast a few weeks before the U.S. presidential election on November 5th.
1:10.2	And this podcast is due to be published soon after,
1:14.0	if not the actual day after. So naming that uncertainty that we're in right now,
1:20.0	we are giving you a very warm welcome to you, Denise. We do need this superpower more than ever.
1:27.1	We're going to be talking about how to
1:29.3	manage polarization at work. And I just wanted to reconnect you and Kim, because you actually
1:35.7	have chatted with Kim and Wesley Faulkner on the Radical Respect podcast previously. We'll put that in
1:41.8	the show notes if you haven't heard it. Fantastic conversation.
1:45.2	But how did you meet Kim, Denise? What brought you into the Kim Scott orbit and the Kim Scott
1:51.1	orbit into the Denise Hamilton orbit? How did it all start? Well, I believe that genius is just,
	...

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.