ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606210020
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: WORKING IT OUT
SOURCE: CAMILLE WRIGHT MILLER
Q: My supervisor said to work on accepting positive criticism - that I become defensive, angry or withdrawn when criticized. How am I supposed to accept criticism?
A: To handle criticism, analyze its facets before reacting.
When given criticism, ask yourself about the qualifications of the critic. If the individual has significant experience on the subject, the critic is speaking from a knowledge base.
Use this opportunity to learn from someone with greater expertise. Listen fully and ask follow-up questions to master what is being offered.
Asking what you have to do or learn to advance will keep you focused on the task, rather than reading the statements as a personal attack.
Don't take every critical statement personally. Criticism of work isn't a criticism of you. Listen carefully: "This report isn't adequate," isn't the same as "you aren't adequate."
Evaluate your self-esteem level. Those with strong self-esteem accept constructive criticism to improve performance. Low self-esteem causes us to treat the observations as criticism of us.
Whether criticism is offered by an expert intent on getting better results or by an individual with ill will and no expertise, your response should be, "I'm glad you brought that to my attention. I'll look into it."
Your planned response provides time needed to evaluate the critic's credentials and the learning value in the criticism. That you're offered constructive criticism suggests you're a valued employee - who still has room for improved performance, something we all have.
Q: I arrive at work each day with a smile on my face. More times than I'd like to admit, my day is ruined by a boss who chooses to be a brat or a co-worker with an attitude.
A: Decide who will control your emotions. You can be proactive, where you evaluate information and determine how to respond, or passive, where you default control of your emotions to others.
Some individuals develop strong internal control. They dictate how they'll react to circumstances. They believe they have some control over situations and analyze circumstances before reacting.
Those who believe otherwise let bosses, co-workers, and customers set the tone and pace of emotions. They let others prescribe how their day will go.
Keeping control of your own emotions is a process which requires you to slow down your reactions, think through the complete situation and then decide how much emotion you will invest. Ask yourself how you want to feel before giving way to emotions others want to evoke.
Only you have access to the switches which turn on your emotion. If so, others can't make you angry; only you can decide when to flip that switch.
Q: At an in-house training session we spent time talking about "Theory X" and "Theory Y" management. What's the point of spending training time with outdated concepts?
A: Theory X is a philosophy based on the assumption that people are basically lazy and, therefore, must be controlled and coerced to work toward organizational objectives. Theory X assumes that most workers prefer to be directed and to avoid responsibility.
Theory Y, X's opposite, is based on the assumption that workers will exercise self-direction to achieve the organization's goals if they believe those efforts will result in valued rewards. Rewards can include pay, strong co-worker relationships, and job security.
A merger of these two, "Theory Z," suggests that management operates best using Theory Y as much as possible but should return to controlling management styles if certain workers don't respond to Y techniques.
They are rather simplistic approaches to management; however, considering these theories can be a useful exercise for a preliminary analysis of managerial styles.
Everyone has attended as least one training session which didn't provide significant and obviously useful information. Give feedback to those arranging training. Explain your disappointment and make suggestions for future training sessions which will be of greater value.
Additionally, re-examine the material for usefulness. Rarely is there no value in material; however, some has to be mined more patiently than others. In this case, accepting the limited value of X, Y, Z theories could prompt a search for alternative managerial philosophies which do have value and relevance. Good questions, prompted by initially bad answers, can lead us to significant insights.
LENGTH: Medium: 85 linesby CNB