Handling Criticism

If you are innovative in any area and do stand out from the crowd you are most likely to recieve quite much criticism, both constructive and unjustified. Even if you are not the most innovative business owner out there I am sure you have been criticized many times. But were you able to respond to the criticism? Did you take the criticism and turned it in to something good? Below is a few pointers how to handle criticism in your business.

Do not feel discouraged

You have to keep an positive attitude and do something good with the criticism you get. All the criticism you get will not be justified, and when it is not you got to be able to speak up for yourself against the person criticizing you.

If your critic is hostile, it is often from being jealous and what the person criticizing you knows is that it will hurt you, make you sad or maybe even angry. As an entrepreneur you got to work on your self-esteem and keep your head high all the time and really believe in yourself. The best way to handle destructive feedback would probably be to just ignore it. Whatever you do, do not sink to their level, if you are to respond to their criticism, do it in a way that will help you instead of making it worse. You do not always have to defend yourself.

Listen and then act

If it is constructive feedback you get you should really listen to what the person has to say and take that in to consideration, but do not just listen to one persons opinion, whether you feel the feedback is good or bad you should always look for more sources for feedback and if the majority says the same, it is time to act.

Do not forget to express gratitude to your critic when the criticism is justified.

If you feel that the criticism you just got was justified but in no way constructive, take that negative feedback and turn it in to something positive. Ask the critic to explain, and give you full feedback so that you can improve.
You can really benefit from criticism, and the ability to handle criticism is a vital key to success.

May 20, 2007 | Filed Under Motivation

Comments

6 Responses to “Handling Criticism”

Shane on May 22nd, 2007 5:01 am

Criticism has it’s good points and it’s not so good points.

If a couple people say something and I disagree, I usually move on. If everyone says something and I disagree, it’s time to stop and figure out why there’s a disconnect.
Andreas Bard on May 22nd, 2007 8:12 am

Yes, I think that is a good way lookin at it.

//Andreas
Motivational Articles on May 26th, 2007 2:24 am

[…] Like in whatever we do or plan to do, there are always some spoilsports around who thinks that they know better. The wet blankets that they throw over have caused many a would be businessman to abandon whatever plans they might have. Lots of people cannot handle criticisms and people who can differentiate what is constructive criticism and what is destructive criticism will be the ones who enjoy a higher percentage of success in whatever he does. Andreas Bard’s article on handling criticism gives his insights when he opened the second paragraph with these words, You have to keep an positive attitude and do something good with the criticism you get. All the criticism you get will not be justified, and when it is not you got to be able to speak up for yourself against the person criticizing you. […]
Motivational Articles on June 5th, 2007 11:44 pm

[…] Handling criticism is one of the things that I struggle the most with. Feeling like I’ve made the right decisions is very important to me for some reason and criticism, even provided in the most constructive manner is a blow to that need. While his article covers a very sensible and logical way to deal with the issue, handling criticism often needs to happens in brief spurts of time where you can’t go through all of the logical reasoning. While all of the advice is sensible, it really doesn’t help you deal with that immediate reaction to the perceived attack. That being said it’s probably something that we each need to figure out on our own. […]
Handling Failure : Andreas Bard | Motivational Articles on June 8th, 2007 6:09 pm

[…] Take risks I use to tell people “You got to bet to win”, which simply means that you got to take some risks if you are going to succeed, and on the road to success there are many wrong turns that leads to failure but that should not scare you. Dare to do something different and you are more likely to succeed than your neighbour sitting in front of his TV complaining all day long. If you are failing at least it shows you are trying to accomplish something. See it as a learning process As with all that is new for us we discover obstacles along the way as we work with it, and because of this you should take it as a learning process where you get valuable feedback to your own capabilities and your ventures possibilities. It is a known fact that we humans learn from failure. Keep trying until you find out what works and what does not work. Keep a positive attitude Always aim to keep a positivt attitude to your failures. Do not let the negative sound of the word send shivers down your spine, there should be no shame in failing even if that is what is taught to most of us. Do not mind what other people say or think if they can not give you any constructive feedback to help you improve. […]
Klara on August 1st, 2008 11:47 pm

Hi, Thanks for your article. I stumbled across it as I own my own wesbite because I write and draw freelance. It’s not the snazziest website, but I was updating and skimming my guestbook today, and found a nasty little entry. The person left no name or contact address, but was very rude and said they hoped I got no business, as they’d had trouble with a broken link?

He’d probbaly meant well, (I fixed a couple of links and am doing some improvements to some pages now), but that’s an example of good intentions, but rudely meant, right? It doesn’t half hit your self esteem, especially when making some errors as a new business owner. I think I get disheartened by the way people deliver critiscm. There are nicer ways to.
Ah well, I’ll take your advice and stay positive. I’ve done some snazzy improvements to my site too, so hah