Jim Citrin Leadership by Example

Imagine that you've take the initiative to develop a new client relationship, which was one of your stated objectives for the quarter.

Despite your most honorable intentions, you neglect to ascertain who else in the organization may already have a relationship with the client, and you get called on the carpet for being selfish and greedy. "I was only trying to do what was expected of me," you think.

As you move into positions of increasing responsibility and visibility, you are inevitably subjected to criticism, which can sometimes be painful. Disapproval and disparagement come with the territory when you're a leader. But how you handle it plays an important role in your professional effectiveness and personal happiness.

A Choice of Buckets

What's the best way to deal with criticism? Is it to have a thick skin and suck it up? Yes and no. The best approach is to separate the vitriol being directed at you into two buckets, one comprised of legitimate feedback and the other with information that probably says more about the criticizer than about you.

The bucket with legitimate information creates a valuable opportunity to improve and change. The other bucket is something to chalk up to being in the position you're in.

Sean Lannan, treasurer of Polaroid Corporation, is one of the calmest and most effective financial executives I've seen in action. Responsible for maintaining the liquidity and financing of the world-famous brand as the company went through bankruptcy, restructuring, and a successful corporate sale, Sean has had to deal with difficult bankers, suppliers, and highly stressed operating managers.

Dissecting Criticism

Sean told me that when he's criticized, "I go into receptive mode, realizing that I need to listen here; someone may be providing me important information.

"When someone directs a personal attack at me," he goes on, "my first action is to withdraw consciously from the situation and think, ‘What is it that they're really bringing up here? Do they have a genuine concern or do they have an agenda?' I try to hear them out and determine whether this is something that the person needs to vent or a legitimate issue to be addressed."

If it's the former, he just lets it come out and puts on his thick skin. But if it's the latter, he moves into diplomacy mode and works to figure out what needs to change.

To decide which bucket the criticism falls into, Sean tries to dissect the issue through penetrating questions to figure out what's really going on. "I often look at this as an opportunity to diffuse a tense situation," Sean says. "At a number of organizations I've been in, open criticism is not culturally acceptable, so it comes out in other ways. I try to pick the comments apart and extract the useful feedback in there."

Making It Personal

The topic of handling criticism has been building in my mind for a few weeks now. It was triggered by a couple of comments at the end of my two most recent "Leadership by Example" columns.

Here are two: "These are such fresh and innovative ideas...thank you Captain Obvious" and "So, can I write an article stating the obvious and call myself an expert? What a waste of time." I'd be lying if I said those didn't smart. Yet if I follow Sean Lannan's advice and hold myself consciously separate from such comments, my takeaway is to recognize that I need to work harder to find new angles and insights on career management.

More painful but equally valuable feedback came via one highly critical reader in a sea of otherwise positive ratings for my column "The Choice Between Wealth and What's Right." The reader wrote, "Why do I get the feeling that Citrin uses his column to publicize and stroke his consulting clients? He hasn't ever disclosed a conflict of interest so my assumption is that every single article is a thinly veiled puff piece for each of his current or prospective clients."

Dealing with the Inevitable

To address this excruciating comment, I went through the 31 columns I've posted since I first began writing "Leadership by Example" in February of last year. I discovered that of the 45 business leaders I've written about up to this point, 10 are, or have been, consulting clients.

That means that 35 have not. Nevertheless, from here on, I'll disclose whenever I cite a client of mine or my firm, Spencer Stuart, as an example.

The lesson I hope you'll take away is that personal attacks are inevitable, especially when you give unpleasant news or deliver an unpopular message. The key is to let personal attacks go when they're petty or stem from the criticizer's own frustrations or jealousies, and confront and address criticism that's legitimate and significant.