Today, we dive deep into radical candor in the workspace. We also hear from Eric Santos, CEO of Resultados Digitais—who’s worked to expand SaaS reach in Florianópolis, Brazil.

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Let's hear it for the WeWorkers

Okay, so we said we’re over the WeWork news—but, this one’s technically about the employees. We’d feel remiss not to agree with (and highlight) Wired’s Antonio García Martínez, who reminds us:

Some serious food for thought.

Change the Channel to Wistia

Wistia announces a live event it’s hosting from its Cambridge, Mass. HQ.

On October 2, Co-Founders Brendan Schwartz and Chris Savage will host a live broadcast called Change the Channel, during which they’ll share what they’ve learned about building brands, the future of marketing, and what you can expect from Wistia in the coming years—featuring guests from InVision and ThriveHive , two companies that are already killing it in the brand space. 

Let’s break it down:

From 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EST: The Future of Marketing, during which Chris and Brendan discuss brand marketing's shifting landscape and drop a product announcement.

And from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST: Building Memorable Brands with Binge-Worthy Content. After the keynote, two spotlight interviews will bring in Director of InVision Films and documentary maker of Design Disruptors, Ben Goldman, as well as ThriveHive CMO and creator/host of Locals, Dan Slagen.

We’re psyched about this one since our content team consists of Wistia fangirls across the board. ProfitWell Creative Producer Dan Callahan can attest.

"We're big fans of Wistia over at ProfitWell. Everything from their brand, to the content they make, to how they help us share the content we produce... I'm really excited to see what this Change the Channel event is all about because we're always pumped to see what Wistia is up to."

Friday = fresh products

And it’s another Fresh Product Friday, where we scout cool products we think are worth checking out. Here’s what hit our radar this week:

• VRChat
  
  - VRChat lets you create, publish, and explore virtual worlds with other people from around the world.
  
  

  “Our goal is to connect people and enable them to interact as if they were in the same room. Any kind of social experience you could want should exist, and if it doesn’t, somebody should be able to create it.” —Graham Gaylor, CEO

• Earth Class Mail
  
  - Earth Class Mail is a fully digital mailroom for business. It gets paper off your desk and into action. How?
  
  Pick an address in the city of your choice, get your mail rerouted to the Earth Class Mail secure facilities, peep your mail online, and integrate with the apps you love.
  
  
• Mudita Pure
  
  - Mudita Pure is a no-distractions, minimalist phone. The mission of Mudita is to make mobile phones and other devices that put physical and mental wellbeing first, instead of the total digital bombardment we all witness on a day-to-day basis.
  
  "We’ve reached a moment, where we refuse to be bombarded with more digital distractions, irrelevant information, and excessive functionalities. Instead, we need to make space for discovering and embracing who we are and what makes us unique. We’ve gathered a dream-team of experts to design products that bring balance and quality to people's lives."

Deep dive

We believe... in the force of feedback

"Feedback is central to being human. There’s likely nothing more crucial to the success of your business, yet... it’s pretty uncomfortable because feedback, and any emotions that stem from it, are deeply personal. And however hard we might try to be an emotionless robot, these traits that make us deeply human, these emotions of evolutionary reaction to stimuli, they always find a way to rear their ugly head.” 

These are the words of our CEO and Founder Patrick Campbell. Though feedback is sometimes a tough pill to swallow, it’s non negotiable here at ProfitWell.

We found an article by Mathilde Collin, Co-Founder and CEO of Front, who also believes feedback is the foundation of a positive workspace. 

Mathilde’s approach is radical candor. What exactly is radical candor? Mathilde writes, "It’s a framework for giving and receiving feedback that is rooted in caring personally about your colleagues while challenging them directly." It entails not gossiping or brushing off an upsetting situation. Radical candor means having those difficult conversations with the intention of helping your colleagues learn and grow.

Radical candor sounds like a no brainer, but it can also be a classic case of easier said than done. So Mathilde details five steps to implementing radical candor seamlessly. 

It begins with onboarding new employees. Mathilde says new employees at Front are coached on how to give and receive feedback.

Second, feedback is made part of the agenda in one-on-one meetings—whether they be weekly, monthly or bi-annual. 

Third, Mathilde says she uses her CEO power for good. So, if someone complains to her, she directs that person to go right back to the source. If it’s not solved in two weeks, then she steps in. 

Fourth, she directly requests feedback. 

And Patrick can attest that sometimes receiving feedback as a leader can be hard.

“As executives and founders listening, you’re taught to lead—you’re taught to go break through walls. You’re taught to get to yes, so someone telling you what to do hits on the very nerve that you’re taught not to have in your body and your mind. And this is what makes us uncomfortable. This is what makes us emotional."

On the flip side, ProfitWell CPO Facundo Chamut argues feedback isn’t always difficult to receive. 

"Feedback at times—it is really, really hard to take and I have a theory as to why that is, but sometimes it’s really, really easy to take, too. Right, when you tell me, 'Hey Facu, you just reacted very poorly to someones undertaking...' That is not hard for me to accept. And I think that the reason it is not hard for me to accept is because I have come to terms with this being a personal lacking of mine. Right on, so when you point it out, I have no problem saying, ‘You’re absolutely right. Thank you for pointing it out and please keep doing so, to help me get better at this.'"

And heading back to Mathilde’s radical candor approach: She says the last step in implementing positive feedback is removing anonymity. She explains this makes the feedback more constructive rather than bold and harmful; because often times when people can hide behind their words, they are ruthless. 

Weekend Wisdom

"Managing is hard."

Today, Eric Santos of Resultados Digitais drops wisdom on what it's like to manage a high growth company, the lessons he's discovered in doing so, and how he's still learning along the way.

And that’s a wrap for your September 27th subscription news. Recruit your friends into the subscription know by sending them to profitwell.com/recur/recurnow to sign up for episodes on the daily.