OK, I’ll admit it. I don’t take criticism well. It’s from a deep sense that I’ll never be good enough. (Thanks, Dad.)
Something you should know about delivering criticism. If you begin with something positive or almost positive and then say, “but”, everything ahead of “but” is forgotten.
I found this piece of advice from the Stoic Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (from The Daily Stoic newsletter).
If that criticism is correct and we are in error then the person criticizing us has done us a favor by correcting it. If they are wrong, what do we care? More likely, if we are doing our job right, we should already be well aware of the issue that people are raising and already be fixing it. We should have no sense of ourselves as perfect or above critique. Nor should we be so fragile and vulnerable as to not be able to bear being disliked or disagreed with.
What a mature approach. Something to learn from and practice. We can, if we but open our minds, learn from those who differ from us and those who offer criticism—even the unkind ones.
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