Leadership / Management

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Recently I was asked to speak at a leadership forum on the care and feeding of critics.  In thinking about this topic, one word came to mind – arsenic. 

Then I remembered several occasions when friends or associates cared enough to tell me the truth.  At the moment, their criticism stung, but it has been a blessing for a lifetime.  Criticism properly given and properly received accounts for much of the progress in a person or an organization. 

Every leader has to develop a plan for handling criticism because criticism will come in any dynamic organization.  Capable people bring out friction and difference of opinion.  In fact, if an organization is placid, I have found it is usually not realizing it’s potential.  Expect criticism whenever one or more of the following is true. 

• There is a change process underway.
• The change costs money.
• The change causes inconvenience.
• There is a shift in power or recognition.

Therefore, a leader must expect criticism much as an Olympian would expect and plan for pain.  I listened to Bob Richards, the Olympic gold medalist, interview younger Olympic winners of the gold.  He asked them, “What did you do when you began to hurt?”  None of these Olympians were surprised by the question.  All had a specific way of handling the pain.  After the interviews, Bob was asked why he had asked about handling pain and he said matter-of-factly, “You never win the gold without hurting.”

A leader must accept the challenge of criticism rather than let it become a threat.  When criticism is a threat, a leader becomes defensive, but when it is viewed as a challenge, he or she can handle it constructively.  Here are a few constructive approaches I have discovered when it comes to handling criticism. 

Classify your critics.  Critics come in many shapes and sizes.  Some are overt and some are covert.  Some hit you in the nose and others stab you in the back.  I have found classifying critics to be helpful because it helps a leader anticipate what a person may say. 

I am sure you will have no trouble putting people’s names with these types, but be sure to classify according to people’s performance, not your personal feelings for them. 

1.  People who resent authority per se.  These critics have never outgrown their disrespect for any authority but their own.  As children, they rebelled against their parents; as employees, they rebelled against their bosses; and as adults they rebelled against leaders in whatever groups they joined.  They adhere to the bumper-sticker slogan, QUESTION ALL AUTHORITY. 

Such critics can be worked only in a loose harness.  They must be given permission to rebel, which is almost an oxymoron, but practical. 

2.  People with natural leadership qualities that are not part of the majority.  As a result, they become leaders of the minority and they feel they have to be in opposition to serve their function.  The more capable they are, the more difficult they are for a leader to deal with.  In your organization, look for this type of critic:  young, unofficial leaders whom other people listen to.  Sometimes it helps to utilize their natural leadership qualities constructively; otherwise these critics could become destructive.  You may have good results if you try to move some of them into management. 

3.  People who criticize to show their superior knowledge.   Those who consider themselves good in a particular area will criticize others who are not so good.  Sometimes these critics can be turned into coaches if they genuinely have an area of expertise.  (More on how to do that later.) 

4.  “Natural howlers.”  Most organizations have people who are like the hound dog lying on a cockle burr – he would rather howl than move.  Every new idea becomes another cockle burr. 

5.  People who use criticism to exorcise internal conflicts.  As a friend said of these critics, “They are a fight waiting to happen.”  Generally their criticism is perpetual and unreasonable.  In fact, most bitter criticism is personal, not organizational.  It is not over a genuine issue, but ego. 

6.  Genuine, honest, interested critics.  Finally, there are some who feel responsible for the welfare of the organization.  I must treat these critics with respect, attention, and courtesy.  They are not my enemies, but ultimately my friends.  Good critics are like buoys in the river, they keep you in the channel. 

Sorting through your critics is not always easy.  Sometimes we have to take the approach Solomon did – recommend cutting the baby in half to find out who is cause-oriented and who is vindictive-oriented. 

Turn critics into coaches.  A good critic and a good coach both see what is wrong.  They see for a different reason, however.  The critic sees the problem to point it out and establish his authority or expertise, while the coach sees the problem in order to work on it and improve it.  I believe that with proper care, most critics can be turned into coaches.  What we normally think of as liabilities then become assets. 

The first step in turning a critic into a coach is to define his or her area of responsibility.  I do not believe in saying, “If you see something wrong, tell me about it.”  That is too general.  That fails to define his or her area of responsibility. 

I am careful to use people at their point of strength so they will be good coaches.  For example, if someone has been critical about matters of finance and I believe he or she genuinely knows about finance, I will invite that person to coach me in that area. 

When turning a critic into a coach, it is important not to argue with the person’s honest opinion or to try to make him or her defend it.  The only thing coaches are responsible for is to give me their considered opinion in a designated area.  I am not obligated to agree, but I must listen with appreciation. 

Sometimes if a person is naturally critical, you can make him a constructive coach by letting him know, “I expect you to criticize in this particular area, but you are responsible for giving high-quality criticisms as an outgrowth of your talent.”  That tells the person to refine their numerous criticisms into the best few and pass along only those. 

When a coach criticizes you, after listening, get the person to repeat it and write down the specific criticisms.  If it is a weak criticism, the more the person repeats it, the weaker it will get.  But if it is a valid criticism, it will grow stronger and you will have a record of it to act on. 

Anticipate specific criticisms.  A naval officer told me that one time the brass in Washington wanted to find a submarine captain who would volunteer for a dangerous experiment under the ice cap.  They talked to one particularly capable captain, but he asked for permission to talk to his crew before he volunteered their services.  He wanted to take on the mission, but he knew it was dangerous. 

The captain took the offensive.  He called the crew together and started listing on a sheet why they should tell the brass the mission was too dangerous.  He put up the first criticism and immediately a crew member spoke up, “That is true, but not in every case.”  Then the crew suggested how that objection could be overcome. 

By the time the captain got through the list of negatives, his crew had convinced each other that the negatives could be overcome.  The captain concluded, “I take it then that you want to attempt this mission.”  They agreed and they did the mission successfully.  The captain won their support because he anticipated their criticisms and defused them. 

Some leaders bring a program into a group without proper planning, hoping to get an approving vote.  They may get the vote, but criticism is liable to follow.  People do not like to be surprised and surprises give the impression of a manipulated agenda. 

The effective leader will know who the “thought/opinion leaders” are on his team.  He will talk to them ahead of time, enlisting their support or listening to their criticisms before a meeting.

Assume criticism is logical.  It is usually best to assume that a person’s criticism is sincere.  Given the base from which the person is thinking/working, the criticism is entirely logical.  The key is to understand the base from which a person is thinking.

For example, I often criticize my brother’s sports-car style of driving because my base of understanding is, “Anybody who drives like that will eventually have a wreck.”  With that base, my criticism of my brother’s driving is entirely logical.  My brother’s base is different, but to him just as logical.  My brother would argue, “The more I drive like this, the more experience I get and the less likely I am to have a wreck.” 

Thus, to work with people’s criticisms, we must know their beliefs, biases, experiences, and especially their ego positions.  For example, there is generally a majority and minority group on any team (just as there is in the Congress) and someone in the minority will generally be an obstructionist simply by virtue of his or her position.  When you understand the person’s internal logic, you can demonstrate respect for the criticism without being wishy-washy.   

Limit the criticism you will accept.    A leader must know how to limit the criticism he or she accepts.  I learned this from a day laborer who wanted to be a success in life.  Several years ago I read Bill Tanner’s story in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.  He had a simple plan he had written out early in his life as to how to deal with critics.  Recently, I read in the newspaper that Bill Tanner had contributed six million dollars to higher education.  I immediately went back over the point of his program and saw how he had followed them successfully.  One of his points was, “I will only accept criticism from the person who will own what he has to say.”  To him, those people were his friends.  By limiting his acceptable criticism, he no doubt missed some that might have been helpful, but he missed a great deal that would have been harmful.  “People think you ought to keep an open mind, but if you keep it too open, people throw garbage in,” says Tanner. 

I am sorry to say that on a few occasions I have let one critical person keep me from recognizing the hundred who were in agreement.  I have learned not to overestimate criticism.  It is possible to turn a cold into a cancer.  Some criticisms sting more than they damage, and every bee sting is not a snake bite.  Sometimes if a race horse pays too much attention to a horse fly, it makes the fly too important.  Some people’s only taste of success is the bite they take out of someone who is doing more than they are. 

It is helpful to have a friend or two who can help you sort the minor criticisms from the major ones.  Then you can treat minor criticisms in a minor way.  But you can also take seriously major criticisms which should not be ignored.  Honest people with a fresh perspective can help you recognize what is a deep and powerful current and what is just a surface wave. 

One way I limit the criticism I accept is to refuse any that distracts from the organization’s main purpose.  Bill Waugh, owner of a restaurant chain, was asked to become chairman of The Salvation Army.  He chose as his theme, “Keep the main thing the main thing.”  By that he meant, keep the purpose of the organization clearly in mind and do not get diverted from it. 

Make constructive criticism part of the culture.  Since criticism is going to come, it pays to make constructive criticism a part of the organization’s culture.  Every well-led organization needs to have an established, stated, understood, and agreed upon culture.  Why not make it part of the ongoing vision of the organization that criticism, when offered constructively, is welcomed.  For this to happen, the people must hear you, as leader, over and over and in different ways, say you value it. 

Occasionally I have heard a capable leader say on a sensitive point, “Now here is something that I have not always believed, but some people have helped me rethink this position.”  Such a leader is making constructive criticism acceptable. 

Give strokes for good criticism.  In an annual meeting or board meeting, you might say, “You are the lighthouse that will keep us off the rocks.”  Or point out that a constructive critic is the tail to the kite.  The kite may feel it is a tremendous drag, but the kite would dart all over without it. 

If we make constructive criticism an accepted part of the culture, I do not think we will increase the amount of criticism.  Instead, we will channel the existing criticism so that it accomplishes something valuable. 

Do not turn criticism into a personal contest.  Some leaders have gotten sidetracked by depending on their popularity for agreement.  This can develop into a contest between those who are for the leader and those who are against the leader.  Making your popularity the issue gives the opposition a firm base from which to work.  Often we make criticism into a personal contest, when if left alone, it will die of its own lack of merit. 

Admit when you have been wrong.  When Charlton Heston was asked how he could have enjoyed such a long marriage, he gave credit to “those three little words” – not the ones we think of, but “I was wrong.” 

I have found I can sometimes make a friend of a critic by adding three more words as a preface, “You are right . . . I was wrong.”  I try to look on every reasonable criticism as a chance to review my position.  It just might be that I am wrong.  It helps me a little bit, when I am being criticized, just to realize that I too have offered some criticism in the past that was dead wrong.  

In the give and take of criticism, it is a warning sign when we fail to see humor in the situation.  Whenever I lose my sense of humor or otherwise find myself unable to laugh at myself, I know I am about to create a big problem for Ken Chapman.  In the longest study of executives done by Harvard, one of the four qualities they identified in these leaders was a sense of humor.  There are many times in leadership when we can laugh and make some friends, or we can scowl and strengthen some critics. 

Do not take revenge.  It is difficult to stay objective about critics.  Sometimes we feel they are a needle in a balloon factory.  Still, leaders must take a firm stand without a vindictive spirit. 

If someone criticizes you publicly, you can use your critic to demonstrate that you are a reasonable person.  It is important to personify tolerance and avoid retribution.  That means, for example, not using your “position” to answer your critics.  Remember, anytime you “win” because you are the boss, you have almost surely lost. 

For more information about Ken Chapman and Associates’ Leadership Development Programs, contact Ken Chapman at 205.366.0265 or email Ken at kchapman@leaderscode.com.

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