Hearing Tough Feedback

Blog Challenge "100 posts in 100 days" Post #32

​I serve on a non-profit board, and I recently expressed my interest in taking on a more significant role which sparked the need for the board president to have a conversation around professional development with me. 

My opinion, feedback is a necessary component of life, especially at work. I don't want to walk around like a dummy blissfully ignorant that everyone around me knows this thing that I need to work on, but no one has told me. 

Still, I have this whole process that I have to follow to receive the feedback. I care about my development, and I always want to be working to become a better version of myself, and that means I need to be able to take criticism and feedback constructively. 

I haven't always been good at receiving feedback, but I have improved over the years thanks in large part to being prepared to have hard conversations. 

I know that it's going to be uncomfortable and awkward and I'm not going to love the feeling in the pit of my stomach and as bad as I want to defend myself, try to explain or make excuses, that is not going to get me to the results I want. That is playing the short game and success is in the long game. So instead of taking it personally, I think of it as a skill that is not currently in my toolbox but that I am capable of learning if I'm willing.