Candor: naming the elephant in the room — without becoming one yourself
Everyone talks about psychological safety. But in my view, Dutch business is still missing something more fundamental: candor. Genuine openness. The willingness to say things that have not yet been said out loud. Yes, even when they are uncomfortable.
Candor means naming the elephant in the room — without becoming the elephant yourself. Not hammering your point home, not shouting others down, but speaking clearly, with respect, without censoring yourself.
As an interim CFO, I regularly find myself in situations where difficult topics are being sidestepped. Sometimes I notice that crucial information is being deliberately omitted or withheld. For me, these are always signals. Not red cards, but firm yellows. Not because I need to know everything, but because it says something about the culture. When communication is not open, fog sets in. And in the fog, mistakes happen.
Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, was a vocal advocate of candor. In his words: “The middle 70 percent need to be coached, the top 20 percent should be rewarded, and the bottom 10 percent need to go.” A quote that fitted its American context, but one that tends to provoke resistance in the Netherlands. We tend to remember above all that he wanted to let go of the ‘bottom 10%’ every single year. In a tight labour market, that sounds like heresy. And yet, in rejecting that, we risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater — because his case for radical openness, particularly around feedback and performance, is more relevant today than ever.
Candor is not the same as being tough. It is about clarity, not dominance. It is about taking people seriously. And that starts with the courage to say what needs to be said — even when it sharpens the edges of a conversation.
Especially now — with pressure on performance, changing teams and a tight labour market — candor is essential. Not to hold people to account, but to grow better together. Because people do not disengage because of honesty. They disengage when nothing is allowed to be said.
Candor is not about being hard. It is about being clear, with respect. So that you can move forward.
How open are you when things get uncomfortable? And: who in your world dares to name the elephant in the room?
