The other side of criticism

Turning them into personal development!

Before going into this topic, I want to point out that criticism and feedback are two different concepts. Criticism is a negative evaluation of something, often pointing out flaws or shortcomings to improve or correct them. On the other hand, feedback is a response or reaction to something, which can be positive or negative and provides information or suggestions for improvement.

I want to share with you an experience where a leader has criticised my work during a recent project. The project was about a new feature for an application, and I was responsible for the design of learning contents for the end users. I spent a lot of time researching best practices, tips and tricks and creating reference guides. Putting in all my time and effort, I actually thought I did a good job, but the leader had a different opinion. She told me my design was too wordy, too cluttered, too detailed and the colors didn't blend well.

I was shocked and felt so demotivated by her criticism, I felt like she didn’t appreciate my efforts and that she was too harsh and unfair. This was not feedback at all!  I wanted to defend myself but knew I need her final approval on these contents, so instead I paused, took a step back, listen and try learning from it by asking for specificity to give me clear examples and suggestions on how to improve my designs.

She then seemed more appreciative of my efforts, her attitude and tone completely changed, she told me that she valued my creativity and initiative and gave me clear direction next steps to help me succeed with the project.

This experience has taught me how to handle criticism in a professional way, my takeaway from this situation is – communication is key to turn criticism into personal development – having an open dialogue helps us understand the opportunities to grow and improve.

I’m sharing this story here because it shows that we are all human and that we all make mistakes. Handling criticism can be challenging; however, criticism can be a valuable source to grow and a great steppingstone to move forward – this really is a mindset shift and needs practicing.

Here are some tips to help you practice shift the dial from criticism into personal development.

Don’t take it personally – separate your identity from the criticism and focus on the facts and specific issues or actions at hand. Keep in mind criticism is not a reflection of your worth as a person.

Be open minded – ask for clarification to understand their perspective, sometimes critics can help you discover blind spots, consider the validity of the criticism and how you can use it to improve. Flex your growth mindset muscles.

Respond appropriately - criticism can be unclear or vague, if you are unsure ask the critic to explain or provide examples and if you disagree, respond constructively. Explain your perspective and look for ways to improve or resolve the issue. Ask for suggestions or offer alternative solutions with action plans.

Remember that criticism is not a sign of failure or rejection, but a chance to improve and succeed. Learn from it!

Celebrate your achievements and acknowledge the opportunity to grow!