Thoughts for business leaders and teams on how to model and foster candor—personally and organizationally.

1. The
CANDOR
impera?ve
jim
bolton
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
president
www.ridge.com
www.ridge.com

2. (Behavior is a function of the
Person in their Environment)
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

3. The
candor
challenge
Prac?cing
candor
personally
Fostering
candor
organiza?onally
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

4. Internal
reac?on/judgment
Agree/disagree
Like/don’t
like
Right/wrong
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

5. Fan!
Spear!
Rope!
Wall!
Tree!
Snake!
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

6. (1)
“Frankness
or
sincerity
of
expression.”
(2)
“Freedom
from
prejudice;
impar?ality.”
From
La?n:
“to
shine”
The
process
of
listening
and
speaking
openly
about
what
maers,
in
real
?me.
Saying
what
you
mean
without
saying
it
meanly.
*American
Heritage
Dic?onary
of
the
English
Language;
4th
Edi?on
(2000)
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

7. Speaking
Up
• Consider
the
“best
case”
or
“likely”
scenario
• Start
small;
pick
one
thing
to
do
differently
(kaizen)
• Ask
someone
you
trust
for
feedback
• There
are
very
few
messes
that
you
can’t
clean
up
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

8. How
to
Say
It
• When
Leading
– Offer
proposals
and
sugges?ons
– Invite
dissent
(“I’m
interested
in
other
points
of
view”)
– Listen!
• When
Reac?ng
– Be
curious
about
their
reasoning
– Disclose
vs
cri?cize
– Preface
comments
(“I
see
things
differently…”)
– Invite
other
reac?ons,
perspec?ves
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
– Listen!
www.ridge.com

9. “Before
I
jump
to
conclusions,
can
you
help
me
understand…”
“I’d
like
to
understand
your
ra?onale
so
we
make
an
informed
decision...”
“I’ve
got
an
alternate
idea
that
I’d
like
to
test
with
the
group…”
“I
feel
strongly
that
[state
concern],
and
I’d
like
to
be
heard…”
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

10. Organiza8onal
Ac8on
•
C-­‐Suite
Priority
(+5%)
•
Candor
“Credo”
•
Communica?on
Cascade
•
Link
to
Competencies,
PA
Skills
Training
Team
Candor
•
Listening
“Playbook”
•
Agreements
•
Strengthen
Structure
•
Feedback
•
Encourage
Openness
•
Conflict
•
Foster
Construc?ve
Conflict
•
Monitor
and
Reinforce
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

11. High
Is
par?cipa?on
and
What
went
well?
commitment
What
can
we
learn
sufficient
to
excel?
from
it?
Task
Aend
to
How
do
we
foster
structure
construc?ve
dissent?
Low
Low
High
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
Process
www.ridge.com

12. STRENGTHEN
STRUCTURE
•
Purpose
•
Roles
•
Membership
•
Norms
•
Prepara?on
EXPAND
OPENNESS
MONITOR
&
•
“6
Thinking
Hats”
REINFORCE
Skilled
•
Nominal
group
•
Debrief
Facilita?on
technique
•
Apply
learnings
•
Brainstorming
•
Con?nuous
•
Rank-­‐order
vo?ng
Improvement
FOSTER
CONSTRUCTIVE
CONFLICT
•
Time
to
test
ideas
on
agenda
•
Invite
devil’s
advocates
•
Aler-­‐ac?on
reviews
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

13. Manage/Mediate
Conflict
Suggest/Lead
Procedure
Redefine
Be
Silent
Refocus
Ques?on
Check/Invite
State
Observa?on
Reflect
•
Content
•
Dynamics
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

14. Iden?fy
your
“candor
moments”
Iden?fy
what
sets
you
off/shuts
you
down
(trigger)
What’s
one
thing
you
can
do
different
(start
new
rou?ne)?
How
can
you
help
change
the
conversa?on
by
facilita?ng
candor
in
others?
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com

15. "If
you
asked
me
what
I
came
into
this
world
to
do,
I
will
tell
you.
I
came
to
live
out
loud!”
–
Emile
Zola
“You
shall
not
withhold
yourself…Break
through
your
shells,
become
direct;
man,
have
contact
with
men!”
–
Mar=n
Buber
"Twenty
years
from
now
you
will
be
more
disappointed
by
the
things
you
didn't
do
than
by
the
ones
you
did
do.
So
throw
off
the
bowlines.
Sail
away
from
the
safe
harbor.
Catch
the
trade
winds
in
your
sails.
Explore.
Dream.
Discover."
–
Mark
Twain
“Life
is
a
great
big
canvas,
and
you
should
throw
all
the
paint
on
it
you
can.”
–
Danny
Kaye
“Our
business
in
life
is
not
to
get
ahead
of
others,
but
to
get
ahead
of
ourselves-­‐-­‐to
break
our
own
records,
to
outstrip
our
yesterday
by
our
today.”
–
Stewart
B.
Johnson
©
2009
Ridge
Associates,
Inc.
www.ridge.com