Transparent Optimism > Best Intentions

Casey Winters does a great job of finding ways to connect individual posts. I read Transparent Optimism by reading Fire Every Bullet. Both are worth a few minutes of your time.

For most of the startups I’ve worked for, mentored, and advised, the teams consisted of younger (early 20s) members who not only found themselves at their first startup, but most in their first actual job.

Often I’ve caught myself under-communicating with the “best intentions” to keep people heads-down, undistracted. I’ve stopped that. People not only deserve radical candor, but leaders who trust they can handle it.

After all… if your team members cannot handle the truth, there’s a problem with your hiring and/or management process.

Notes & Highlights:

• “When we hire great employees, the push to focus them and not distract them, while good, can easily be used as an excuse to not share hard things, and that creates a belief that the team can’t handle unresolved conflict, work through confusion, or understand strategic fog or even help lift it, and creates the perception that you as a leader are hiding things.”

• “…I have come to call this style transparent optimism. I’m going to give you all the context, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and explain how I think we come out on top.”

• “But ultimately, I think it creates a default trust and default respect with the team, and helps them contribute more to the success of the company.”

  • Note: I love the phrases "default trust and default respect."