Criticism – The Good & Bad

Do YOU fear or hate being criticised ?

The definition of criticism (from Wikipedia) – Criticism is the activity of judgement or informed interpretation and, in many cases, can be synonymous with “analysis.”

The fear of criticism or being criticized by your superiors, peers, relatives, family had always been strongly entrenched in our human nature and it had been become a highly developed form, transformed over time.

Napoleon Hill, the author of this wonderful book, “Think and Grow Rich”, wrote “to attribute the basic fear of criticism to that part of man’s inherited nature which prompts him not only to take away his fellowman’s goods and wares, but to justify his action by CRITICISM of his fellowman’s character”

The fear of criticism, could possibly destroy a person, resulting in the person losing his/her initiative, losing the power of imagination, limiting his unique individuality, taking away their self-reliance and possibly even more damaging than we the CRITICS can ever imagine.

Everybody indeed has sometimes too much of this service known as criticising, that many times or all the times, they feel/justified/insist that they have it, the power to criticise people. Whether it is parents criticising their child or employer criticising their employees, the usage of criticism can backfire very badly, for it would PLANT FEAR in the human heart or resentment and not build love or affection, also known as, Destructive Criticism – to harm someone, derogate and destroy someone’s creation, prestige, reputation and self-esteem on whatever level it might be. This may be done intentionally or out of sheer ignorance and foolishness (Wikipedia)

However, if the person practice Constructive Criticism – it is a compassionate attitude towards the person qualified for criticism (Wikipedia). Therefore, if we choose to criticise people, we need to practice Constructive Criticism, and not to do it just for the sake of covering up our own flaws, mistakes and past experiences dealing with criticism.

I personally faced huge amounts of criticism from my early days even till today. No doubt it left some very bad emotional scars inside me but it taught me a lot as well. As I do not want to fall into the trap of Destructive Criticism because of my past, poor and bad experiences, I would always take a step back, look at the overall bird’s eye view of the situation and conduct Constructive Criticism.

“Honesty, without compassion, is abuse” – A phrase told by Rebecca L. Morgan, whom was invited to come down from the United States as a Guest Speaker at a local product launch seminar in the early part of 2008. This phrase strikes me very deeply and I felt a lot in that simple statement.

Don’t ever think that YOU have the right to criticise people with your utmost true honesty, coming out from your mouth without compassion, abusing the other party, for it only shows your weakness too.

With constructive criticism, leaders will be able to bring out the best in their followers and helping, mentoring and leading them to be even better citizens and leaders, thus bringing out the maximum potential in a person, instead of killing their passion, ideology, dreams and goals.

Which Critic Do You Want To Be ?