The 5 Cs of Confident Communication: Care & Candor

We are in the middle of improving communication in our blog series called The 5 Cs of Communication and today we're tackling two of the Cs. We're discussing them together because they can't be separated from each other if we want our communication to work. We're talking about care & candor. The goal by the end of this post is to help you see how you might be able to take a step or two towards striking a balance between the two. 

👉🏽 Care: If you're CARING well you will know, appreciate and honor what the other person is excited about and stressed about.

👉🏽 Candor: You’re using CANDOR well if you’re having honest conversations about what’s working, what’s challenging and what you would like to change.

Which of these are you better at? For most of us, one of these comes more naturally than the other. Not only are you better at one but the other can seem almost undoable. 

For example, if you are great at care, candor can seem way too harsh. Being honest with someone at best will need a lot of sugar-coating.

However, if honest isn't your problem...if you're very comfortable being candid, the care side of a relationship can seem very fake.

The problem is, neither of these are sufficient on their own. They work like a two-sided scale, needing one another to stay balanced. 

👎🏽 Care without candor can cause a person to be too passive and come up short on results. 

👎🏽 Candor without care can be too harsh and cause a person to come up short on connection and collaboration. 

To improve, plot where you spend most of your time on a care / candor continuum. Check out the one below. Where do you land? 

Now, the goal (wherever you land) is to take steps to move toward the center.

Interested in making sure you continue to grow?  We are too!  Schedule time with Bob to start your journey today!