Criticism Helps Leaders Grow
There are a variety of ways to look into the concept of leadership. Leadership is a skill you may learn. Though much has been written about leaders being “born”, the true key to leadership is an eagerness to take on the role of leading and inspiring others. If you feel powerful enough about something, this passion coupled with an ability to engage others and learn from your mistakes will ensure that you can be a good and solid leader in your chosen effort. Do not let people put your leadership style down; leaders do not come in one-size-fits-all molds. Do what needs to be done, be impartial, and be flexible to change, and you will be able to make your own style of influential leadership. After all, Leadership is not about holding big designations, it is more about creating authentic impacts.
Aristotle said “To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.” In fact, leadership is a big responsibility. It comes with great rewards – people trust you, follow you, admire you, and are inspired by you. Likewise, nonetheless, it comes with a fair amount of disrespect, fear and the desire to chop the tall poppy. Coping with criticism in a leadership context is not a case of reacting defensively to justify your actions. As an alternative, it requires a much more expansive comprehension of how your actions are perceived by others and how you perceive their actions. Despite the fact that it is not easy taking the analytical road over the critical, doing so brings the best outcomes for both the short and long terms. As far as my extensive research and individual opinions are concerned, there are certain strategies that might help leaders regardless of spheres in the society avoid criticism and get obsessed with the goals for making a real difference.
When someone criticizes your leadership, it is all too easy to respond by trying to give an explanation for your actions and actively try to turn the criticism into praise. Stop deceiving yourself. If you focus on the feeling of being misunderstood or misjudged, you will place yourself right into the position of defensiveness instead of listening openly. You will be on fire in exhibiting your accomplishments, busy exposing how effective your projects are, and how people have acclaimed your leadership prowess. Simultaneously, you might even be compelled to make comparisons with others and detect their faults and failings in comparison with your accomplishments. Sadly, all of these reactions are defensive rather than expansive and mindful.
Split commends and blame from failure and success. Commendation for work well done and recognition for achievements are accolades that we all seek and these have their place. Equally, we learn early on the probable advantages of accepting accountability when things go wrong from time to time. But criticism and praise are not indicators of the failure or success of you or your projects; think about how a successful developer will often be criticized by local residents who feel they have lost their amenities despite the project’s success, or about all of Thomas Edison’s failures receiving praise, despite their failings; neither example illuminates us as to the real outcome and they both demonstrate that the reality is always much more complex. For you, it means understanding that criticism is not going to undermine your overall success.
Having a positive outlook is always beneficial. Exercise criticism as a means for improving. Criticism is leveled at leaders for various reasons, with the main one being that people perceive something is not working to their benefit or for the greater good of something everyone has a stake in. When people feel powerless to initiate change and innovation themselves, the leader is the sensible target for expressing their discontent. First, work out why those you are in charge of might be feeling this way and try to remedy it so that they feel they have a greater ability to innovate, take part in developing solutions, and start changes. Second, reflect over the criticism. Often there is the germ of accuracy in even the most negative criticism and if you can reveal something positive from this per se, it serves not only you but your business, staff, team, community group, project, whatever it is you are leading, will benefit as well. Third, do not take to heart the obviously nasty criticism. There will always be people who lop tall poppies because they feel jealousy or personal frustration at not taking action. Take such nasty critiques in your stride and let it be; simply ignore that type of criticism and get on with what you’re doing right. It pokes to ponder that leaders are the people who act on their ideas and perspectives whereas many people who criticize with bitterness have had ideas but lacked the will to act and make a difference.
Admire for the sake of recognition, not as a means of deflecting criticism. Always appreciate the good that those working under you do and care about, and always make a point of giving them due credit for their determinations and sincere endeavors. Do not praise only when you fear criticism, or you will always be on the back foot. Furthermore, you do not want people conforming to your way of thinking in order to get your praise; it is very important to praise a job well done even where you not necessarily agree with its process, purpose, or results, provided it enhances the relevant experience and elevates the overall prospects of the business/project/activity, etc.
As Mahatma Gandhi said “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” I would urge you to be a role model dealing with criticism. Let others experience healthy and mature reactions from you when criticized and even bullied. Your ability to listen and learn, and your ability to acknowledge where you have made mistakes teaches others that it is ok to err and that it is acceptable to change your approach to ones that are likely to be more effective. That is a lesson that only a leader can efficiently impart and demonstrate, from moms to boardroom directors!
The aforementioned ideas, key tactics and strategies are shared to acknowledge the contributions of the leaders irrespective of societal class. Sincere thanks to those whose actions inspire us to dream more, learn more, do more and become more. Leaders make mistakes and they get criticized. On the contrary, leaders also innovate and they get revered. The bottom line is that leadership is not a popularity contest. At times criticism helps leaders grow.
Written by: Shohag Mostafij
