Radical Candor
I was referred to this company & concept this week, and I was thoroughly impressed. The general gist of the concept is that unless you don't care about the well being of your employees, and if you don't give them direct feedback, you're not managing effectively. There are 4 types of praise/criticism you can give & receive, and yep, each one resonated with me. Either something I've done, or something I've received.
Manipulative Sincerity: This is the idea that you act like you care and that you are sincere, but then you try to manipulate the person into doing what you want. This summed up an ex-CEO I used to work with. They were friends with everyone, but always trying to "sell people" into roles and goals they didn't want. Everyone knew they were not to be trusted. (guess what, you don't want to do it this way :))
Obnoxious Aggression: this person is aggressive, they don't care about their employee, they just beat them into submission. Back when I was a marketing coordinator early in my career I had a CEO like this. Upon one of my fuckups, I was yelled at incessantly with comments like "If I had wanted this screwed up, I would have done this myself". Oh right, another method that is less than effective.
Ruinous Empathy: This person is supportive, and full of empathy, but never passes on feedback until it's too late. Their employee ends up getting fired, without knowing why. Well, I've been this person. Some of my biggest career regrets are in this area. Not being direct enough with an underperformer, and it affecting their team and performance. This too is not going to work.
and finally: Radical Candor: This approach says that you care about the person, but you give them direct feedback. They know where they stand, it's not personal, but you want them to succeed. For the employees that I've worked with where we've had this kind of relationship, they've been the most rewarding.
So while I didn't want this to come off as a book report, I think they are great concepts. My intention is to stick to this methodology as a guiding principle and try my best to practice it every day. I was taught years ago to "assume the best" from people, and every time I have strayed from that tenet, I have landed in another box of this grid. It's amazing how well all these beliefs work together.
There are a number of other concepts like HIP (on how to deliver feedback)...but I'll leave that for another post. You can read more about radical candor here: http://www.radicalcandor.com