How do you react when someone is overly-critical of your work?

Our reader poll today asks: How do you react when someone is overly-critical of your work?

• I seek to fully understand any and all feedback I receive: 32.63%
• I look for major issues but tend to ignore smaller criticisms: 45.46%
• I tend to be dismissive of what feels like overly critical remarks: 17.64%
• I blow it off. I have work to do and don’t have time for excessive criticism: 4.27%

Feedback matters. Whether you like the feedback or not, you’d do well to at least consider it. It’s challenging for people to provide feedback and the vast majority don’t unless it’s a major issue. So figure for each person providing feedback, there are five others who are too uncomfortable to offer the same thoughts. If an issue comes up, you’d do well to evaluate it and put it in the proper perspective. Don’t oversteer though – you don’t have to act on every piece of feedback you receive. Sometimes they’re just style or personality differences that lead to the feedback. Act on items of substance and file away other seemingly smaller feedback. But if you begin to see patterns in that smaller feedback over time, assess whether it’s a bigger trend you need to act on. Regardless of the situation, beware of dismissing feedback at your own risk.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.