Can you accept criticism?
It is my personal belief that accepting criticism is the single most important ingredient for success in our business and private lives. If we refuse to accept it, we may save ourselves some hurt feelings, but we will pay the price in bad decisions and mistakes that could have been easily avoided or corrected. By accepting criticism objectively and with as little personal involvement as possible, we prevent a clouded judgment, a string of bad decisions, and lots and lots of unnecessary stress. But just accepting it is not enough.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.
- Winston Churchill
Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth
without destroying his roots.
- Frank A. Clark
Bruno's commentary
Rather than just passively accepting criticism, we should ask for it and open ourselves up to it as a general principle. If we are closed to it, we will discourage others from evaluating our decisions, and our friends and acquaintances won't dare to tell us what they think. Why should they? It is not pleasant for them to criticize us. But it is an act of love and respect on their part, and if we refuse to accept it - too bad for us!
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