Why It’s In Our Own Interest to Acknowledge Criticism - BusinessWeek

What should we do when someone criticizes us? As long as the criticism isn’t petty, vicious, personal, or otherwise way off base, we should take it to heart. It’s only by carefully considering what a critic has to say that we’re able to become better. Of course it’s hard to do this, since we need to have both self-confidence and humility to acknowledge that we may be misguided. It’s understandable that our first reaction to criticism is a refusal to consider the critic’s points. Nevertheless even the most expert among us can have room for improvement. We can’t maintain excellence or hope to improve if we refuse to work on ourselves, which means, in part, taking criticism seriously.

Now I’m not perfect, but learning how to take criticism has made a big difference in my life.  Before I went on a mission for my church, I was 100% unable to even hear criticism, much less accept it and try to change myself because of it.  I had a leader that really brought some heat down on me, and I don’t know what changed, but I didn’t instinctively react defensively as I would have before that, probably because I knew that he only had the best of intentions.  Because I was able to listen, I became a much better person and a leader.

I still have a long ways to go, and it’s tough to accept criticism, but you’re always better off for it.  Now I find myself swinging almost too far on the pendulum the other way.  Now I can’t seem to get enough honest feedback from other people, though that’s partially because sometimes I come across as not wanting to hear it.  My current goal is to fix my non-verbal cues so that I’m more approachable.