The Secret Sauce Behind Scalable Leadership: Radical Candor & The Five Dysfunctions
- Nadine Blackie
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
Let’s be real. Startups don’t have time for leadership theory that was built for corporates. They need fire tested frameworks that actually work in fast-paced, high stakes, and founder led environments.
That’s why everything we do at The Vesta Club is built on two powerhouse frameworks:
🔥 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
🔥 Radical Candor by Kim Scott
We didn’t choose these frameworks because they’re trendy. We chose them because they shift momentum fast, especially when leadership teams are misaligned, stuck, or unintentionally slowing down.
Let’s dive in.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
This model maps out the most common reasons leadership teams break down and how to rebuild them. It’s not theory. It’s a mirror. And most teams we work with see themselves in it instantly.
The five layers of dysfunction:
Absence of Trust
Fear of Conflict
Lack of Commitment
Avoidance of Accountability
Inattention to Results
At The Vesta Club, we use this model to build high performing leadership teams from the inside out, starting with trust and working up toward results. We measure through a team assessment and then help leaders:
Name the invisible tensions
Lean into healthy conflict
Clarify ownership
Hold each other accountable
Enable others to multiply impact
When you get these foundations right, speed returns. Decisions unstick. Meetings shrink. Team morale lifts. And results start to scale with direct impact on the bottom line.
Radical Candor
If The Five Dysfunctions is the system, Radical Candor is the fuel that keeps it honest.
Radical Candor teaches leaders how to say what needs to be said without being a jerk (or a shitty boss by avoiding it altogether). It’s a must have for startup leadership, where the pace is high, feedback loops are tight, and clarity is gold.
The model is simple:
Care Personally
Challenge Directly
Most startup leaders lean too hard in one direction, and they’re either too “nice” to say the hard thing or way too blunt to keep trust intact.
We coach leaders on how to strike the right balance. When directness is paired with care, trust deepens. And accountability becomes the norm.
Why We Love These Two Frameworks Together
Because they reinforce each other and, in our opinion, are the dream team.
You can’t build trust without honest feedback.
You can’t drive results without accountability.
You can’t have alignment without healthy conflict and commitment.
The Five Dysfunctions gives you the structure. Radical Candor gives you the communication muscle.
If these ideas are new, they might feel uncomfortable at first. But once embedded into your leadership culture, they unlock trust, speed, and results across the board.
Built for Startups and Scaleups, Not Corporates
Let’s be clear, we don’t run corporate textbook training sessions. We’ve taken the best of these frameworks and adapted them to the startup reality, like riding a rollercoaster while building the tracks beneath you. Scrappy teams, high pressure decisions, and zero time for fluff.
Every workshop we run is designed to get your leadership team aligned and activated — fast.
Want to See These Frameworks in Action?
We don’t just talk about leadership — we build it.
Because startups don’t need more theory. They need practical tools that build trust, scale leadership, and unlock performance.