3. Performance Management
The sentence and the stance (SBI; Radical Candor)
The sentence, and the stance
SBI is associated with the Center for Creative Leadership. Radical Candor is a trademark of its owner. Both are named here to identify the models. No affiliation or endorsement.
Use when
Teaching managers to say hard things without breaking trust
S-B-I
Situation (when/where), Behaviour (what you observed, camera-visible), Impact (effect on work or people). Then stop and listen.
Care personally + challenge directly
Both at once. Challenge without care is aggression; care without challenge is ruinous empathy.
The ratio
Frequent small feedback beats rare big feedback; praise with the same specificity as correction
The trap
Feedback sandwiches bury the message; judgments ('unprofessional') start fights that observations don't
How to use it
SBI (Center for Creative Leadership) is the sentence structure; Radical Candor (Kim Scott) is the relationship posture that earns the right to use it. In caring cultures the failure mode is ruinous empathy: kindness used as a reason not to say the thing. Teach that naming a problem early IS the caring act.
Card details
- Model type
- Grid
- Origin status
- Established
- Content last reviewed
- 28 July 2026
Origin
EstablishedSBI, Center for Creative Leadership; Radical Candor, Kim Scott, 2017. Paired here.