Moving past setbacks to hit a positive note

In our experience, no one is immune to workplace criticism – even high-flying corporate leaders and senior management have to deal with this reality of professional life. Indeed, what’s the trick to coping with this reality? The answer is realising that even the most stinging critique can help you take your career to new heights.

According to Harvard Business Review, any criticism or negative feedback is taken quite gravely in Asia and often this could be due to a deference to power play or acknowledgement of defeat. In many Asian-headquartered corporations, this expression of power stomps flat the multi-level relationships and open communication required for innovation. When businesses fail to address issues of power, they remain vulnerable to failure and may not persist to do everything in their way to succeed.

Here are our top suggestions for using negative feedback to fuel your professional growth:

Don’t take your professional life personally

No matter how invested you are in what you do, it pays to remember that you are not your job. It’s easy to read critiques of your performance as a personal attack, but it’s healthier to acknowledge your emotions and put them aside. Assessing the problem with a clear head will allow you to identify ways that you can move forward and improve.

Everyone’s a critic

Although a lot of workplace criticism is constructive and valid, there might be the rare case where the feedback is the product of someone’s ego, rather than a genuine attempt to help you improve in your job. Think about what your co-worker or manager’s motivations might be. If your gut tells you that the comments are undeservedly harsh, put it in perspective, take a deep breath and let it go.

The truth hurts

Sometimes, negative feedback can be painful because you know it’s based on a current of truth. Does your time management truly need work? Could your communication skills use some developing? In our experience, constructive criticism can help turn you into a star performer –acknowledge your past mistakes, recognise your areas of development and commit to improving upon them in the future.

Develop your emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EQ) refers to the ability to recognise and effectively manage your colleagues’ workplace behaviours and is an important factor in workplace success. Use your emotional intelligence when dealing with workplace critique, and remember that no matter how criticism may make you feel, defensive reactions won’t serve you well. Your best course of action is to ask your manager for examples of the issue and actionable suggestions about how you could rectify the situation. Keeping a calm head will prove to your manager that you take their concerns seriously and are prepared to use them to help you move forward.

Sometimes, negative feedback can be painful because you know it’s based on a current of truth.

Seek feedback proactively

Designate a colleague to give you feedback on your attitudes, behaviours, and actions. Better yet, open up the conversation with many people.

Take action that can bring about change

Act like you mean it. Put a plan in place as with any other change initiative. For example, change the minds of key influencers, and use their relationship power to change others. Stop broadcasting and start receiving.

Learn from your lessons

Once you’ve made a concerted effort to fix the issue or put strategies for improvement in place, put the negative feedback in the past and do your best to move on. Carrying criticism with you can make you feel resentful and create barriers to your professional growth.