“Our attempts to maintain positive self-views undermine our ability to accept negative feedback from others,” says Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. Receiving and learning from criticism is essential to developing our talents. Those who handle negative feedback with grace are more likely to succeed. So, instead of becoming defensive or deflecting blame, here are a few ways to deal with negative feedback in a positive, constructive way:
- Don’t become argumentative or make excuses. When your supervisor addresses performance issues, it’s easy to fixate on the negatives. Instead of taking negative feedback as a personal attack, see it as insight into how you can improve your performance and grow your career.
- Use this feedback as an opportunity to reflect on yourself, your strengths, and your weaknesses. Focus on the facts presented and what steps you can take to make the necessary changes to improve.
- Be proactive and ask questions. Allow yourself to be open to suggestions on how to improve and make a clearly defined, measurable plan of action to get the results you want. Having less ambiguity in your plan improves your chances of succeeding.
To find out more about how negative feedback can help you, check out our ebook Embrace the Power of Negative Feedback.