Page 138 - Becoming a Successful Manager

Giving the Gift of Constructive Criticism 129

agree on a course of corrective action, and discuss what
needs to be done to prevent the problem from recurring.

Clearly, the last reaction is what you would expect of a profes-
sional manager. This tactic is both effective and benevolent. It is
effective in that the manager confronts you with your errors rather
than allowing you to believe that everything is fi ne. It is benevo-
lent because it involves you in the solution to a problem of your
own making. That is a thoughtful gift, don’t you agree?
This type of feedback is what your employees should expect
from you. They trust you to tell them how they can improve their
performance. They also trust you not to collect bricks or to build
invisible walls. In short, they trust you to be forthright and sup-
portive and to do everything in your power to help them succeed.
If you do not fairly criticize or confront employees when
it’s appropriate, you are setting them up to fail. How can peo-
ple improve if they’re unaware that they did something wrong?
Awareness is the beginning of change. As their manager, you must
make your employees aware of their shortcomings and mistakes
and provide them with the guidance they need to improve and
correct their errors. You don’t deprive them of gifts that can make
them better employees and people.
Although helpful criticism is a valuable gift, many managers
lack the courage to offer it because they confuse criticism with
adverse judgments.

Differentiating Between Gifts and

Adverse Judgment

It’s not criticism or feedback itself but the way it is offered that
separates thoughtful criticism from adverse judgments. When a