If you follow Gary Vaynerchuk very much, you’ve probably noticed that his big push lately is for “kind candor“. In his earlier years he did well with the “kind” part, but hid from the “candor”, which was a big disservice to those on his team.
You don’t need to hide from the truth, but don’t be a jerk about it either. It’s similar to what I shared a few weeks ago when I said that “Honesty without kindness is brutality, and kindness without honesty is manipulation.“
In her book “Dare to Lead“, author Brené Brown shared this thought a few different ways. She had a pretty harsh overview:
“Feeding people half-truths or bullshit to make them feel better (which is almost always about making ourselves feel more comfortable) is unkind”
But she also summarized it very neatly:
“Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.”
Hiding behind the truth to make someone feel better may work for a while, but in the long run it’s likely to lead to trouble. Speak the truth whenever possible, but always try to be a good human while you do it.
