So I open up my email this morning and find to my delight my Fast Company Newsletter, which if you don’t get, you should (that is my shameless plug for one of my favourite business resources).  The title of this article jumped out at me, “Why Being A Meaner Boss Will Help Your Company–And Make Your Employees Happy” http://www.fastcompany.com/1830539/why-being-a-meaner-boss-will-help-your-company-and-make-employees-happy?partner=homepage_newsletter.  Of course I needed to know more!

Reading the article really confirmed what we have found in our work with thousands of leaders and reaffirmed the important message contained within the Relationship Intelligence Model created by Epiphany Coaches.  It’s not about being ‘mean’ per say…it is about being direct and candid with the people you work with.  It is about letting people know what you expect of  them, letting them know when they are doing well and when they are not, it is about not letting people flounder in ambiguity regarding how their performance is being measure or whether or not they are meeting company expectations.

From our perspective, creating a nurturing, creative and prosperous culture has everything to do with communicating well, communicating often and communicating candidly.  People want to be treated with respect and kindness…but more than that they want honesty and candor about the fact that they are contributing to the organization in a positive way, that they are valued.

Being ‘candid’ beats out being ‘nice and wish washy’ any day of the week!

Heather Clarke