Employees that are able to handle criticism with grace and an eye towards growing professionally get promoted.

Criticism from a boss can be very difficult to hear. Learning how to accept the criticism as constructive feedback and grow professionally from the experience will enable professional growth. The feedback can come formally as part of a performance review or informally as part of daily conversation with a superior. Regardless of the context, the feedback is a valuable temperature gauge of your performance and can be a valuable indicator of areas that need professional development attention.

Often employees focus only on the negative aspect of the words and not on the intention of the feedback i.e. to improve performance. They feel their hand being slapped and become unmotivated and discouraged. This can lead to a lack of job satisfaction along with diminishing productivity. They blame their boss for being insensitive, not understanding the full picture, having a hidden agenda or simply being incompetent in their leadership role.

To learn from the criticism, take the following six steps:

1. Listen

Begin by listening carefully to the criticism. Remove bias or noise from other personal life issues. Ask for the feedback in writing if possible. Having it in writing lessens the possibility of a misunderstanding.

2. Discover

Ask questions. Become a detective. Gather information – facts, figures, rationale. Make sure you fully understand the context that this feedback is coming from. Become the critic and try to see their point of view.

3. Agree

Find a point of agreement. Uncover the truth in the criticism. Agreeing with your critic will keep tempers in check and create an atmosphere of professional sharing of information and respect. Creating a dialogue around performance feedback can strongly enhance the experience as well as enrich the learning.

4. Plan

Get into problem solving mode. Create an action plan. What can be done immediately to improve the situation? What will need more long range actions and planning? What resources are needed? Training? Write out the plan and show it to your critic and see if they have further feedback.

5. Action

Start implementing the plan as soon as possible. Show that the feedback has been heard through actions. Take small steps towards a big change.

6. Reflect

Set a date three to six months later (and then annually, if applicable) to reflect on progress made. Record progress made in a journal.

Following these steps will ensure that the feedback has been utilized as a professional development opportunity and not an opportunity to become a victim.

For a further discussion on handling criticism, refer to the book Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burns. The book is focused on drug free treatment of depression but the techniques can be used by anyone, depressed or not.

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