How to Handle False Criticism

Constructive criticism is one thing. While someone giving you some negative feedback with the intention of helping you develop and improve your skills is a good thing, it's not always easy to hear. Even when that feedback is true and correct, criticism always stings a bit.

But what if that criticism wasn't true? What if the feedback was false? Some of the most difficult criticisms to bear are those that have no basis of truth. What can you do to respond to negative feedback when it's false?

While our first instinct might be to deny or argue the false claims, getting defensive can lead us into more trouble. Often our denial can feed into the false criticism and help to prove the evaluator's point. Instead of getting angry or defensive, try these steps when encountering false criticism:

1. Keep your body language calm
2. Smile
3. Think before you speak
4. Thank them for the feedback

Remember, your response in tough situations says a lot about you. Keeping calm and and keeping your temper in check will go a long way. Once you've conquered this initial response, then you can go back and evaluate your own actions and ask clarifying questions.

If you've been on the receiving end of false criticism, take some time to read more about how to handle false criticism at work for some more suggestions and tips.

Blaming Others when Receiving Criticism

How you respond when receiving negative feedback from others says a lot about you and your character. Do you quickly jump in to defend yourself, make excuses, or even blame others when someone criticizes something you've done or something about you? Or are you one who can take responsibility for yourself and your actions and take ownership of the feedback. Do you seek out feedback so that you can develop your skills and grow in your leadership effectiveness?

Receiving negative feedback isn't easy for anyone. However, we all know what it's like to work with or attempt to correct someone who cannot take ownership over their problems. It's easy to identify the blamers in our workplace. Yet often, if we take a closer look at our own responses, we may find that we have some blaming tendencies as well.

Read Feedback: Stop Making Excuses or Blaming Others when Receiving Criticism to find out how you can move from being a blamer to being an owner.

Leadership and Professional Skills

How can professional skill development increase leadership effectiveness? Many leaders have incredible people skills. They naturally know how to influence others with their innate abilities of awareness and finesse. However, even when natural leaders lack some of the basic professional skills such as time management or organization, their leadership can quickly lose of of its effectiveness. Without professional skills, leaders can lose trust among those they are leading. Natural born leaders can improve their leadership skills by learning to develop their professional skills.

If you are a leader, take a moment and think about your own level of professionalism. Do you rely too much on your people skills? Could professional skills benefit your leadership?

Read more about Leadership and Professional Skill Development to see how your can improve your own leadership abilities.

Job Hunting Tips for College Grads

In today’s economy, job hunting is difficult for anyone out there looking for work. Recent college graduates are up against a lot of competition in the job market today. While they do have the advantage of being able to take a smaller salary than someone with more experience, often the experience they lack can be a greater disadvantage.

Job hunters in today’s market will find that they have to work a little harder and shine a little brighter than the competition to land the job. While some college grads understand the steps they need to gain a competitive edge, many others blend in with the others or fade into the background.

What steps can you take to stand out and get noticed by potential employers? Click on this link to learn more: What’s Next? Job Hunting Tips for College Grads

How to Ace That Job Interview!

Unemployment rates are soaring! If you get the opportunity to go on a job interview it's more important than ever to look professional and make a good first impression.

Research shows that the organizations that spend more time recruiting high-caliber people earn 22% higher returns for their shareholders. Hiring is considered both an art and a science.  Most hiring decisions are made by intuition during the first few minutes of the interview.

If you want to ace that interview, then you'll need to do your homework to learn how to put your best foot forward. You'll want to properly greet the interviewer and know how to respond to questions.  Another good interview tip is to check the internet particularly if it is a large company and learn everything you can about the company ahead of time. 

For more tips on how you can ace that job interview click here: Ace That Job Interview!

Top 5 Steps to Build Leaders

Leadership development isn’t only about the development of the leader. Leadership development is about building a team for success. A wise leader understands that his effectiveness as a leader will only extend as far as his influence. By building up leaders instead of acquiring followers, a leader will be able to multiply his influence and effectiveness.

How can a leader create an environment for other leaders to succeed? Creating a healthy leadership environment for your team will take some intentionality on your part. You’ll have to work at building their leadership development and inspiring them to want to improve and succeed. While this will take both hard work and resources, the results will be worth the effort.

Try putting these top 5 steps into practice:

1. Identify key players who catch the vision of the organization
2. Create leadership development programs for growth
3. Coach emerging leaders one on one
4. Give your new leaders an outlet to exercise their leadership skills
5. Train your leaders to build up a leadership team under them

Read Building a Team of Leaders for more information and helpful guidelines in creating a leadership environment and building a team of leaders. Start expanding your influence today.

What is Participative Management?

Participative management is based on the concept that a worker invests his labor and ties his fate to his place of work. This enables the worker to be associated in the process of decision making and influencing various aspects of company policy. The champions of industrial democracy argue that a worker is not a slave. Like any other citizen he has opinion of his own which should be taken into account when decisions are made and policies are formulated.

How can this affect leadership? Participation actually suggests mental and emotional involvement and not only physical presence. Workers participate collectively as a group through their representatives. It gives them a greater buy in and more ownership of the process.

Participative management is based on four pillars. These are:

1. Communication
2. Consultation
3. Co-determination
4. Self-management.

How can Participative management help you in your organization? Read more on Participative Management to see the benefits and learn how you can put this concept into practice.