Loud Thinking

Learn to Hear the Coaching in Criticism

Criticism can be hard to hear, but pulling value from it is essential to your development and success. Luckily, it’s possible to strengthen your capacity to receive feedback. To get more from criticism, recognize that some feedback is evaluative (“Your rating is a 4”) and some is coaching (“Here’s how you can improve”). Work to hear the coaching in feedback; don’t get stuck on the evaluation. Next, don’t wait for a formal review: ask for bite-size pieces of coaching from a variety of people throughout the year. Instead of asking an unfocused question like “Do you have any feedback for me?” make the process more manageable by asking, “What’s one thing you see me doing (or not doing) that holds me back?” This way, you’ll get more concrete information.

Adapted by HBR from “Find the Coaching in Criticism” by Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone.