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When Your Leadership Is Called Into Question or Criticized, How Do You Respond?
You can’t avoid dissent, but how you manage challenges to your leadership defines the quality of your personal power.
Recently, Adam Grant wrote on his Substack, Granted,
“People who can’t handle criticism are unfit to lead. Weak leaders fear dissent as a threat to their power. They silence their critics to shield their egos. Strong leaders welcome dissent as an opportunity for growth. They silence their egos to learn from their critics.”
Are you a change leader who can’t handle criticism?
If yes, how do you normally react?
Let me say that I don’t believe Grant’s suggestion that “People who can’t handle criticism are unfit to lead” is nuanced enough — or even entirely true.
Grant is a well-respected leader in his field who regularly publishes these short-format, insightful ideas, like the above. However, I believe his statement lacks human-heartedness. No one is above the sting of criticism, so let’s consider what’s happening when others challenge who we are or what we are doing as leaders.
