Friday, December 1, 2023
The more your career progresses, the more you become a thought leader or icon or avatar, the more people will critique you. This is a sign of success, not failure.
There’s no sense critiquing people who are minor players and also-rans. Inferior people attempt to “shoot down” acknowledged, successful leaders because they believe that brings them credibility and attention. Instead of creating their own excellence, they try to undermine others’ excellence.
Don’t worry about unsolicited feedback, subscription cancellations, negative comments on social media or on those dreadful “smile sheets” at the end of presentations.
Of course, if someone you respect and/or have asked for feedback which contains ideas for improvement, listen to it and act on it as appropriate.
But don’t become some ball in a pinball machine being whacked around by someone else frantically punching buttons. They’re just trying to rack up a score, and that’s not exactly a valuable life skill. Leave that game.