Don’t worry what your critics say – just prove them wrong!

I watched the Scotland Rugby team beat Australia on Saturday. It was  a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours and the glow that went along with the ( unexpected) result lasted all evening. It so happened that I was at a country hotel with my parents , husband and kids and the atmosphere in the bar as the audience realised that Scotland might actually win was electric. When they did – well lets just say that many of the guests found it hard to get the smiles off their faces for the entire evening!

Over the past few years the Scottish Rugby team has come in for a lot of criticism. To be fair it has been a hard time to be a fan – wins were a bit thin on the ground. They have a new coach this season and so far they have won 2 games out of 2 under him.  It is very early days yet to see how different their performance will be but it has certainly given the critics something else to think about.

Critics   – the clue is in the title – are their to criticise. My dictionary describes criticism as – “to find fault”. For those in the public eye – including our sportsmen  – it goes with the territory. But for the rest of us who run up against a critic it can be difficult to manage.

I have taken my fair share of criticism in the past  – and it hurt! But as I got older ( I would say wiser but that would be a stretch )  I realised that criticism is based on the critic’s agenda. And just because the say what they say  does not make it true!

We can discuss what do do about criticism intellectually and come up with all sorts of advice.  But there is nothing more emotionally satisfying than proving a critic wrong.

Most leaders will receive criticism at some point or another. The strength of their leadership is often how they respond to that criticism.