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Permission to Speak Freely: How the Best Leaders Cultivate a Culture of Candor
Lead So Your People Speak FreelyCandid 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.
- GenresLeadershipBusiness
177 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 20, 2017
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October 28, 2017Getting people to open-up, really share what is on their minds, in their hearts and to do so without fear of reprisal or judgement is a skill that must be learned and nurtured. Whether you are a parent, a coach, a teacher or a leader, Permission to Speak Freely: How the Best Leaders Cultivate a Culture of Candor, by Doug Crandall and Matt Kincaid shares a learned and practical take on positive leadership and asks this powerful question, “What if, some of the most powerful words in your organization were these: I’m not sure. I need help. I have a new idea." Great stories, authoritative perspectives and some humorous advice will help leaders put their ego in check and understand that being vulnerable will allow people to trust you and trust in you. They’ll show you how to ask authentic questions and offer a powerful reminder that just because someone is the loudest or speaks authoritatively, doesn’t mean they are right or represent a larger view. In fact, target the newcomers and introverts. They are the most powerful silent demographic. It’s not hard. Just show people you care.
November 10, 2025
Items of Note:
* Candid communication enhances innovation, ownership, engagement, and performance.
* Vulnerability is our most accurate measure of courage.
* When your people don't speak up, it's not their problem—it's yours.
* Candid communication enhances innovation, ownership, engagement, and performance.
* Vulnerability is our most accurate measure of courage.
* When your people don't speak up, it's not their problem—it's yours.
May 30, 2017
Great book for leaders, and anyone that wants to make sure they are hearing and bring heard.
August 4, 2017
(I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway.)
“Permission to Speak Freely” was somewhat of a mixed bag. “Objectively” it may be worth three stars, being somewhat repetitive, and propped up more by anecdote than by real information. I gave it four stars because it was an easy read (well written) and because the message is so needed. And while the test could have been half its published length and lost little of its substance, I am glad Kincaid and Crandall did not feel the need to cram the book with every just-so story they have ever heard (a perennial problem with these types of books).
“These types of books” refers to the whole range of managerial and self-help books that seem to be flooding the market these days. I found that “Permission to Speak Freely” rises above the pack by doing two things well. One: it makes real, concrete suggestions, not vague pontification. Two: the message is actually needed. I recently read similar book which was essentially about boosting creativity and the result was rather insipid rant with no practical implication.
“Permission to Speak Freely” actually drills down on the issue at hand. Candor is important. Everyone benefits in a variety of ways. The self-contained chapters are also particularly helpful, in that they seem to be built around particular themes, and the three parts follow logically upon one another. The real strength of each chapter, and thus the book as a whole, is that the authors know their audience. If you are in a managerial position, and if you want to increase openness and efficiency, this is an excellent basic resource. Too many authors want to be all things to all people and lose focus.
On the other hand, if you are in a managerial position, and if you want to increase candor, “Permission to Speak Freely” really is a basic resource. Many of the suggestions are intuitive, and if you are not already sold on the value of openness, I doubt somewhat that this book will help.
Ultimately, “Permission to Speak Freely” admirably achieves what it sets out to do. If you think openness is important, this is a good place to start. But, it is only a starting point. The book is easy to read, interesting enough, but not outstanding. The message is of vital importance, but, if you accept the importance of candor already, the content is so-so. It could be quickly skimmed, which would be beneficial and sufficient.
“Permission to Speak Freely” was somewhat of a mixed bag. “Objectively” it may be worth three stars, being somewhat repetitive, and propped up more by anecdote than by real information. I gave it four stars because it was an easy read (well written) and because the message is so needed. And while the test could have been half its published length and lost little of its substance, I am glad Kincaid and Crandall did not feel the need to cram the book with every just-so story they have ever heard (a perennial problem with these types of books).
“These types of books” refers to the whole range of managerial and self-help books that seem to be flooding the market these days. I found that “Permission to Speak Freely” rises above the pack by doing two things well. One: it makes real, concrete suggestions, not vague pontification. Two: the message is actually needed. I recently read similar book which was essentially about boosting creativity and the result was rather insipid rant with no practical implication.
“Permission to Speak Freely” actually drills down on the issue at hand. Candor is important. Everyone benefits in a variety of ways. The self-contained chapters are also particularly helpful, in that they seem to be built around particular themes, and the three parts follow logically upon one another. The real strength of each chapter, and thus the book as a whole, is that the authors know their audience. If you are in a managerial position, and if you want to increase openness and efficiency, this is an excellent basic resource. Too many authors want to be all things to all people and lose focus.
On the other hand, if you are in a managerial position, and if you want to increase candor, “Permission to Speak Freely” really is a basic resource. Many of the suggestions are intuitive, and if you are not already sold on the value of openness, I doubt somewhat that this book will help.
Ultimately, “Permission to Speak Freely” admirably achieves what it sets out to do. If you think openness is important, this is a good place to start. But, it is only a starting point. The book is easy to read, interesting enough, but not outstanding. The message is of vital importance, but, if you accept the importance of candor already, the content is so-so. It could be quickly skimmed, which would be beneficial and sufficient.
May 14, 2019
This book was recommended to me by another leadership coach on the work I am doing with my team around communication and trust. It's a quick read with some great nuggets that seem simple in theory, yet are so challenging in practice. Three of my favorite take-away's:
1. ASSUME POSITIVE INTENT - it's simple, you have to assume it! Great example of a Major stating plainly, "I've never met a bad cadet". The key was he BELIEVED it...it's a choice!! Leaders get what they expect.
2. If it's not life or death, say "YES" - every time you say "yes" or "no" to the people you lead, you make 2 decisions: a short-term decision about the idea and a long-term decision about the organizational culture. Saying YES empowers, develops, builds engagement and demonstrates trust.
3. BE GENUINELY CURIOUS: "We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are" When leaders go first with our own ideas, we anchor the conversation, and others instantly become hesitant to wander far from what they think we want to hear." In order to be genuinely curious, you must cast aside your weight and let those you lead launch the conversation.
1. ASSUME POSITIVE INTENT - it's simple, you have to assume it! Great example of a Major stating plainly, "I've never met a bad cadet". The key was he BELIEVED it...it's a choice!! Leaders get what they expect.
2. If it's not life or death, say "YES" - every time you say "yes" or "no" to the people you lead, you make 2 decisions: a short-term decision about the idea and a long-term decision about the organizational culture. Saying YES empowers, develops, builds engagement and demonstrates trust.
3. BE GENUINELY CURIOUS: "We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are" When leaders go first with our own ideas, we anchor the conversation, and others instantly become hesitant to wander far from what they think we want to hear." In order to be genuinely curious, you must cast aside your weight and let those you lead launch the conversation.
October 10, 2017
Great, short read on a topic that doesn't get enough coverage in my opinion. How does a leader make sure that people feel comfortable and empowered enough to speak their minds? Why is that crucial to the long term success of leaders and to the organizations they lead? The authors go through some of the pitfalls of not making sure people can speak freely. Organizations fall into the Pygmalion effect, whereby people meet your negative (or positive) expectations rather than reaching their true potential. People will tell you what you want to hear and they will "anchor" their responses to please you, rather than to provide true input. Giving people the permission to speak freely needs active engagement and constant reinforcement in order to counter the tendencies of many organizations and leaders to want people to fall in line, rather than speak truthfully.
December 26, 2017
I think this book offers a lot of practical advice on how to set up a culture that truly embraces free thought and the expression of ideas that don't work. That's important b/c failure is part of the lifecycle for truly great companies. Great ideas often come with risk and this book helps you elect that level of risk taking thought from your team.
November 19, 2020
Book was easy to ready and gave great ideas to think about. As a new leader it gave me a chance to reflect on how I was leading prior to a greater role and the type of leader I would really like to be. Worth the read! We are now using it as a book study with leaders of varying levels.
October 5, 2017
Great book! Highly recommend it to anyone looking to lead :)
There is plenty of lessons to learn from it and probably something I can re-read from time to time!
There is plenty of lessons to learn from it and probably something I can re-read from time to time!
November 16, 2018
Excellent book. Would recommend that anyone with a job read it.
June 26, 2019
Good book, top-notch stories, but I’d read this advice elsewhere. If you aren’t familiar with this approach to work, worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews