If you are a living being, criticism is quite common. Criticisms, if taken in a positive manner, can become an essential aspect of personal and professional development and growth. Open mind and a growth-oriented approach is required while facing and overcoming negative feedback. Sharing here some important strategies to handle criticism and negative feedback in an effective manner, so it could prove an upward-escalator for and use it as a catalyst for growth:
- Stay Receptive: Every feedback is an opportunity to learn and develop, it always comes for your improvement. Don’t look at is as a personal attack, rather consider it as a piece of some valuable information that can help you grow and evolve.
- Listen Actively: Active listening is a very important skill you can use while encountering criticism and negative feedback. When you find some criticism and feedback for you, don’t get panic, don’t react or respond but only listen, get yourself engaged in active listening, don’t become offensive or defensive, Pay attention to both the content and the underlying message of the criticism.
- Extract Wisdom: Try to seek the truth wrapped within the feedback. Even if the criticism feels harsh or unwarranted, they may contain some valuable insights that can help you identify areas for improvement or gain a new perspective on your work.
- Seek Clarity: Never hesitate to ask for clarification if the feedback is itself unclear. Be very clear that there is something for you in every feedback and seeking additional information can help you better understand the criticism and determine how best to address it.
- Take Initiative: Once a feedback, criticism received by you or you have come to know about is, immediately start taking proactive steps to address any areas for improvement. I am not exaggerating this but believe me I am sharing the most important step with you that, develop a plan or set specific goals for how you’ll work on the feedback, start acting upon the same and keep tracking your progress over time.
Negative feedbacks can be turned in to positive workforce for you if you know the art of handling feedbacks, you know how to use these feedbacks for your growth. don’t let criticism discourage you, use it as motivation to become the best version of yourself. In my life I also have been a victim of criticism, in my few videos on YouTube channel, I have admitted the same, I learned that ways that how can I defy those and use those for my growth and remember that everyone faces setbacks and challenges along the way, but it’s how we respond to them that ultimately determines our success.
Turn each and every criticism as a STEPPINGSTONE, use all of those for your growth, development and progress.
Anupam Jaiswal
