Six reasons why criticism is a good thing

Listening and acting on honest feedback will give you insight into what's good and what can improve.

Make use of that information to improve your performance, service, or event.

Constructive criticism can steer you from bad practices towards better ones.

Try to distance yourself from what you're providing and look at it objectively. If you can take a step back, you might see how you can improve.

If a customer tells only you how to give them a great service, that's information that only you've got.

That puts you at an advantage over others in your sector. Find ways to draw that information from your clients or audiences.

How you respond to criticism is vital. Try to avoid getting into an argument. Instead, lead the exchange into a discussion on how to solve the issue. You'll waste less time guessing how to fix things. "So, you'd like to change the design - what would you say is the main thing that ought to be different?"

Turn your words into action to demonstrate that you can listen to feedback.

If someone doesn't like your work, don't take offence. Even if you feel the criticism is unfair, don't react negatively as you can irreparably damage your reputation.

A good professional can take criticism and not respond as if it's an attack. At the very least, they can leave with their reputation intact.