Most often than not, people tend to receive constructive feedback as a personal attack. Because of this, people will start developing negative feelings which hinders them from accepting the actual feedback.
As per Bill Gates, “We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”
Constructive feedback should be taken as something positive instead of taking it negatively. It serves as a support that is given to a person so that he/she can do better. Constructive feedback is necessary because it will give you directions on what to follow especially in times wherein you don’t have any idea on how to reach your goals. It gives you an idea on what are the things you need to continue doing and the things that you need to stop doing for you to reach your goals.
Be a Pro in Accepting Feedback .
If a person gives you feedback, your initial reaction is to be defensive right? You usually then find excuses to invalidate the other person’s viewpoint. That’s not how we should accept feedback.
As per John Mattone, “If you reject feedback, you also reject the choice of acting in a way that may bring you abundant success.”
How To Accept Constructive Feedback Effectively
- Expand your mindset
The goal of constructive feedback is to support someone to help them improve. You need to expand your mindset so receiving feedback is easier for you to accept and understand. Accept feedback that is in line with your goal. Make a plan on how you can reach your goals by working on your opportunities. And the best way for you to know what your opportunities are is to accept constructive feedback.
2. Ask for help
Asking for help means that you are willing to think about and build on your skills. If you don’t know what direction you are going, just ask for assistance from your mentors/managers. Always remember that you should not be afraid to ask questions. As per Barack Obama, “Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new.”
3. Take in and build on feedback but don’t take it personally
What’s the goal of feedback? The goal of feedback is for you to take in and learn from. From there, you can build on and improve your skills. You just have to make sure that you take it as a positive learning experience and not take it as a failure or personal attack. If you take in feedback personally, instead of helping you upskill yourself, it will only create negative feelings which can hamper your professional growth.
Bottom Line
As they say, “The truth hurts”, but it is no doubt important because knowing the truth will help us upskill ourselves. This is the same with constructive feedback. Constructive feedback is necessary because it allows us to learn how to be better and work on what we lack which is essential for us to reach our goals.