Radical Candor: Fully Revised and Updated Edition: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean

This is one of those business books that stays useful long after you’ve finished it. It’s direct without being harsh, and practical without turning people into problems to manage. The idea that stayed with me most is the distinction between “rock stars” and “superstars”. Not everyone wants to climb endlessly or be the loudest voice in the room. Some people want to do excellent work, grow steadily, and be valued for consistency and judgement. That reframed how I think about performance, ambition, and fairness at work. The strength of the book is how grounded it is in real conversations. Feedback feels less like a performance and more like something you do because you respect people and want working relationships to hold up under pressure. It’s especially useful if you care about being honest without being careless, and supportive without avoiding difficult truths. I found myself reflecting on my own habits as much as on how I lead or work with others. A thoughtful, practical read that manages to be both challenging and kind.

Bought this as it was part of a work course I was signed up for. Interesting and some good thinking points but also felt a little repetitive and I didn’t identify with all the examples.

Great book would definitely recommend.

Gentle parenting. But for adults.

I was recommended Radical Candor as a more contemporary take on Marshall B. Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, but I think it also works as a more up‑to‑date reference for much of the material covered in What Did You Say? The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback by Charles N. Seashore, Edith Whitfield Seashore, and Gerald M. Weinberg. It even overlaps with, and offers a different angle on the One Minute Manager series by Ken Blanchard. I learnt a few new things which I think will be really useful. I especially liked “Care personally, challenge directly”, encouraging feedback from your team early on, the discussion of why boss is the proper term and the three questions you should ask your team to understand them and where they want to be. I’m already using the terms Rock Star and Super Stars as a result of reading Radical Candour. I didn’t like the strong emphasis on 121s, especially the frequency and the perceived importance. To me this is plain wrong and should be replaced with building strong, high communication relationships. Interestingly, these are also encouraged by the book. The afterward and extra chapter in the edition I read were sloppy. They rehashed or expanded what was already in the previous chapters and, I suspect, was a way of adding more material without having to revisit the entire book. It would be good to see a future edition completely revised. At the same time, it could be shortened as there is more of it than there needs to be. I originally bought the paperback, but the text is so small I had to revert to the kindle version, which meant I didn’t get the best versions of the diagrams. Everyone should read this book, but it could be a lot better.

Recommended by a friend and not disappointed - a great read

Got this for the wife who likes this sort of thing, she and I have a different approach to dealing with staff and colleagues, and she is a strong believer in sharing the journey. Frequently she would read sections out for us to discuss, it didn't take me long to realise she was adopting a new approach on me... Having read the book myself now, or at least skimmed through various bits it tells me what I already know, and have put into practise over the last 25 years or so in business. I can sum it up as follows..... be clear, be direct, be as open as you can, and keep the message/direction short...... thst last bit for those who stop listening or reading after the first sentence after they go off into la la land in their heads. One thing though if anyone could guide me to a product that can help twenty somethings in the workplace to not be so fragile and to understand not everything in work needs to be broken down, dissected and discussed at length I would appreciate it, apparently my desire to use electricity or a sharp point stick is not appreciated.

Kim Scott’s central idea in Radical Candor is simple but powerful. The best leaders care personally about their people while also challenging them directly when something needs to change. The book explores how many workplaces drift into the safer alternatives. Leaders avoid difficult conversations, soften feedback too much, or allow problems to continue because they would rather not create discomfort. Scott makes a convincing case that these actions ultimately do more harm than good. What makes the book particularly useful is the number of real examples and practical situations that bring the concept to life. The message is clear. Honest feedback, delivered with genuine care, builds stronger teams and healthier organisations. For anyone responsible for leading people, Radical Candor offers a valuable reminder that kindness and honesty are not opposites. In good leadership, they should exist together. A thoughtful and very practical leadership read.

Lo compré para un regalo. A la persona le ha encantado. Vale la pena comprar pasta dura, viene de gran calidad

If this is your first business book, it’s a strong place to start. It introduces a set of widely used frameworks that many well-known authors and practitioners also reference, and it does a solid job of packaging them in a clear, accessible way. That said, the frameworks are presented at a fairly high level and can feel more tailored to large, corporate environments than to the day-to-day realities of small and mid-sized organisations. If you’re looking for highly practical, immediately actionable tools for a medium-small business, you may find parts of it a bit abstract. Overall, it’s a good book and a worthwhile read, especially as an introduction. For me, having read quite a few books in this space already, it didn’t offer much that was genuinely new but it’s still a well-structured refresher and a useful reference.

I first heard about "Radical Candor" during my government agency's annual training conference, a conference that included a workshop based upon "Radical Candor" led by our HR director. While I hadn't heard of the book, I fell in love with the ideas behind it and upon my return home set out to pick up the book for myself. "Radical Candor" has easily become one of my favorite books of the past year, a terrific option for those who are challenged by difficult conversations and who want to grow in leadership. While "Radical Candor" is likely most applicable to those in management or leadership positions, I've found the book really has been of tremendous benefit in my personal life. Within weeks of reading the book, I found myself in a challenging situation dealing with a healthcare provider and took much of what I learned from the book to resolve the situation positively and to work through a potentially negative situation. I displayed a side of myself I didn't really know and was rather awestruck by the positive results. Since reading the book, I've actually been promoted into a supervisory position and am now seeing the ways in which the book complements my existing leadership skills and management style. Truly, "Radical Candor" remains one of my favorite books from the past year and I've seen positive growth both personally and professionally resulting from author Kim Scott's intelligent, informed and sensitively written guidance.

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Really interesting insights into managing teams. Some of the examples are a little specific to be scalable to all situations, but very helpful all the same. First time in a while I've highlighted sections in a book to revisit!