How do you handle criticism on your performance at work without taking it personal and allowing it to upset you?

9 comments

1. Listen, learn from it and look at it as a way to improve not as an insult to what you’ve done

2. If it always comes from the same person and you feel they have something against you, your superior might be having some troubles in their own life that they don’t know how to handle and they use someone to vent on. If you think this is the case, then you should feel sorry for their poor personality and need of to feel an authority they cannot feel in some other aspect of their life.

3. NEVER act on it directly. I need to step away from the situation, get some perspective and when that is done it’s almost never as bad as when I first received the comment. Sometimes it turned out not to be criticism – only my insecurities bubbling up.

4. By not taking it personal and not letting it upset me.

   Okay, that wasn’t very helpful. Maybe this is: If the criticism is actually justified, thank the person for their feedback and deal with it. If it’s aimed at you personally, then you might want to call them out on it. It’s perfectly fine to simply say that you are open to valid criticism and feedback, but don’t appreciate personal attacks. If you feel it is not justified, ask them to make it more clear. Ask for specific examples. Ask them how they’d have handled it, or why you did it this way. In any case, the best approach is to try to remain calm and collected.

5. One of the things I try to keep mindful of when dealing with feedback or even working with difficult coworkers is that we’re all on the same team.

   We’re all working towards a common mission and objective. We all want to succeed and there’s no single person that makes that happen. Everyone has to do their part and not everyone is going to nail it the first time around. That’s okay.

   Respectful criticism or feedback is how we address those shortcomings or mistakes. I know that not everyone is fortunate to receive criticism in a respectful manner. That’s a different issue/conversation though. If someone is rude or condescending, that’s a respect issue and possible a work culture issue.

   But if my boss or someone I’m assisting with has feedback, I try my best to appreciate the extra guidance or clarification. Criticism isn’t always negative. Sometimes, it’s a helping hand.

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7. I consider the source and whether it’s valid or not. If it’s someone who knows what they are talking about, then I know they really want me to be successful and it’s an easy pill to swallow. I’m not perfect, I fuck up, I have blind spots, and I can admit that because I’m not an egomanic dipshit.

   Is it someone who is just trying to hurt me? Someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about? Is it even valid thing to critique? Disregard them for the flea they are. I don’t care about the opinion of fleas.

8. By rationalising that the person providing isn’t judging me or trying to hurt my feelings. They’re judging my work. It stings sometimes but, I know it’s not some sort of dig at me personally and remind myself that it could likely benefit/improve my work in the long run.

9. If you’re trying hard it can be hard not to feel as if you’re failing. However.

   1. No one’s perfect. You’re not perfect. There’s only one way to do better; improve. There’s always something else you can learn and some better way to do something.

   2. Imagine if you were the boss… Would you hate people for not being perfect? No. But at the same time, you want people to improve. So you give them pointers. If they’re a good boss they don’t mean it as criticism in any way and don’t think twice about it as soon as they’ve said it (unless it’s really important and you ignore it lol).

   How you react is a choice. If you’re used to taking offense it may be hard at first, but if you practice looking at ways to improve and asking others for help, it’ll get easier with practice.