Day 9 · Act II — Lead People
The Art of Difficult Conversations
Radical candour · SBI feedback
~30 minutes
The conversation you avoid is the one that is running your team.
The Core Idea
Avoided conversations do not disappear; they metastasise into resentment, workarounds and quiet exits. Courage in leadership is often just the willingness to speak first.
Kim Scott's Radical Candour frames feedback on two axes: care personally and challenge directly. Without care, candour becomes aggression; without challenge, care becomes 'ruinous empathy'.
The Mental Model
SBI — Situation, Behaviour, Impact
Developed by the Center for Creative Leadership: describe the situation, the observable behaviour, and its impact.
At work: 'In Tuesday's client call (S), you interrupted the client three times (B); they disengaged and the decision was deferred (I).'
The Case Study
Feedback cultures at Netflix
DocumentedNetflix's published culture materials emphasise candid feedback, a theme explored in No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer.
Interpretation: candour scales only when paired with context and genuine intent to help.
Cinema & Story
The King's Speech (2010)
Growth begins when someone is willing to be honest with a powerful person — respectfully, persistently.
The Reading Room
Radical Candor
Kim Scott
A practical framework for feedback that is both caring and direct.
Further reading: Crucial Conversations — Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler
The Journal · Portfolio output: Difficult conversation script
The Field Experiment · within 24 hours
Have the conversation within 24 hours. Open with your intent to help, then SBI.
The Evening Review
Clarity is kindness delivered on time.