deepstash
Beta
The Secret to Taking Criticism Seriously-Not Personally
Criticism can be positive
Knowing where you’re not meeting expectations and understanding the negative perceptions others have of you is the only way you’ll learn and grow as a professional.
It is also important not to let every harsh word or critique break your confidence.
100 SAVES
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
6
Key Ideas
Getting Negative Feedback
... is not the best thing to happen at work. It normally leads to a racing mind, emotional discomfort and increased blood pressure.
We may try to defend ourselves, or brush aside the feedba...
It’s Not Personal
Unless it is completely uncalled for, negative feedback generally has the intention of informing us about our areas of improvement. If feedback isn’t provided, you may not grow and improve. If no one tells you that you are doing something wrong, you will keep doing it wrongly forever.
Providing timely feedback may be a sign that the manager cares and wants you to improve.
Don’t Shoot The Messenger
One should not be defensive when provided with negative feedback, and understand that it is for our own good.
One needs to act on the feedback by approaching it from a neutral and objective standpoint, not taking it as a personal attack. Instead of reacting, just pause and listen. Reflect on the feedback, giving yourself some time and space to respond with a level head.
10
Key Ideas
3. Be Specific With Your Feedback
The more specific your feedback, the more actionable it is for the one receiving it. Example: Asking for an article on communication is vague while asking for one on public speaking is speci...
4. Comment On Actionable Things
To help people improve talk about things they can do something about, rather than those out of their control. Critiquing the former makes your criticism constructive; critiquing the latter makes the person feel bad as they can’t do anything about it, even if they want to.
Understand the person’s situation and his/her objectives, then provide your critique based on that. And if you need to talk about something out of their control, balance it out by talking about things they can control.
5. Give Improvement Recommendations
Give recommendations on what the person can do to improve so they have a clear idea of what you have in mind and get a strong call-to-action.
With your recommendations, (a) be specific with your suggestions and (b) briefly explain the rationale behind the recommendation. Also, try to limit examples to one per point to make your case more impactful.
5
Key Ideas
“If you look to lead, invest at least 40 percent of your time managing yourself.”
Dee Hock - Founder of Visa Credit Card
Shortcomings of leaders
Being a leader is a little like being a parent. You have all the best intentions of how great you will be and how you will avoid the mistakes you see other people make.
But, people in a leadership role find it is not that easy; they have too much to do and not enough time; they don't properly think through their priorities; they assume that people beneath them will take care of a lot of problems.
Do a "character traits check"
- Think of someone you thought was a bad leader and list any of the negative behaviors they displayed.
- Ask yourself if you share any of those behaviors — score 1 for not likely to 5 for very likely: for instance, someone who kept important information away from employees, a micromanager, a vague communicator, a yeller, someone who didn't keep their word.
- After you identify your potential areas of improvement, make a plan for how you'll work on them.