Permission to Speak Freely How the Best Leaders Cultivate a Culture of Candor

Lead So Your People Speak Freely

Candid communication enhances innovation, ownership, engagement, and performance. The benefits of hearing questions and uncertainties, good and bad ideas, and honest feedback are game-changing. Yet research shows that most of the time, people never share their true thoughts with each other—and especially not with their leaders.

But what if they did? What if everyone could confidently communicate without fearing a negative response? In Permission to Speak Freely, highly acclaimed leader developers Doug Crandall and Matt Kincaid illustrate the benefits of candor, explain the inhibitors that cause it to feel unsafe, and provide tools for leaders to encourage their people and embed trust and openness into the foundation of their organizational culture.

Doug Crandall ‪is the founding partner of Blue Rudder, a leadership development consultancy. He has led in the US Army, taught at West Point, and helped develop and grow Walmart's Leadership Academy. Doug is the coauthor of Hope Unseen and the editor of Leadership Lessons from West Point.

Matthew Kincaid, PhD, is a business professor and the managing partner of Blue Rudder. He has led four start-ups, consulted for various Fortune 500 companies, and been published in international leadership journals.

Contents
Foreword by Shann Ray Ferch, PhD vii
Introduction: How Speaking Freely Helped Bring a
Championship to Seattle 1
PART ONE:
WHAT LEADERS NEED TO HEAR
1: Questions and Uncertainties 11
2:  Great Ideas and Terrible Ones 21
3:  Feedback and Concerns 27 

PART TWO: THE PROBLEM 

4:  Leaders Impede Communication 35
5:  A Leader’s Power Suffocates 45 

6:  People Fear Judgment 53 

7:  Rejection Leads to Fatigue 65
PART THREE: HOW TO CULTIVATE
A CULTURE OF CANDOR
8:  Assume Positive Intent 73 

9:  Prove It’s Safe 93 

10:  Dignify Every Try 105

11:  Be Genuinely Curious 117
12:  The Promised Land 133
Notes 147
Index 151
About the Authors 157