Compassionate Candour

Say the thing that needs saying, and keep the relationship strong.

The Problem

It is not news that candour and psychological safety are critical to a team becoming high performing.

The hard part is actually improving them. Most teams stay polite and comfortable, the important issues go unsaid, and performance quietly suffers for it.

The Insight

Adapting the work of Professor Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School and other leading researchers, there is a clear, practical process for increasing candour in a team. The key is balancing candour with compassion: communicating directly while caring personally. Michelle Rushton and Shaun Kenny, founders of People of Influence, help teams build this as the foundation of an extraordinary team.

Watch

Watch Michelle Rushton make the case for compassionate candour in the workplace.

What is Compassionate Candour?

Candour on its own can feel harsh. Compassion on its own can avoid the truth. Extraordinary teams do both at once, so people can be honest with each other and stay connected.

Key Outcomes

What your team walks away with

01
Know what great looks like
The team understands what compassionate candour looks like and why psychological safety underpins high performance.
02
See where they stand today
The team gets an honest read on how candid and psychologically safe it really is.
03
Strategies they can use immediately
The four steps to increase candour, and how to balance candour with compassion, ready to use straight away.
04
Practise the skill for real
The team practises being compassionately candid in the room, through activities and real scenarios.
05
A toolkit and an action plan
The team leaves with practical tools and the norms and conversations it commits to.
06
Nudges that reinforce over time
Nudges that keep candour alive long after the session.
Session Flow

How the session unfolds

An interactive team session, in person or virtual, built around activities, discussion and skills practice.

1
Why candour matters
The science of psychological safety, and the cost to a team when the important things stay unsaid.
2
Candour and compassion
The balance of communicating directly and caring personally, and how to hold both at once.
3
The four steps
The practical process for increasing candour in a team, learned together in the room.
4
Practise in real time
Activities and real scenarios, so the team practises being compassionately candid with each other.
5
Speaking up
Building the confidence and courage to raise challenging issues and question the status quo.
6
Make it real
The team commits to the norms and conversations that will keep candour alive after the session.
Format & Delivery

Shaped around your team

Duration
From 60 to 90 minutes, up to a half or full day
Delivery
In person or virtual, interactive
Audience
Intact teams and their leaders
Two ways to work with us

People of Influence is the consultancy through which Michelle Rushton and Shaun Kenny deliver leadership programs, team offsites and impactful conferences.

Contact People of Influence →

Leadership Engine is our proprietary platform for diagnostics, dashboards and roadmaps.

Visit Leadership Engine →