【Management 0320】听到批评时如何保持冷静

刘颖

The MPW Insiders Network is an online community where the biggest names in business and beyond answer timely career and leadership questions.
Today’s answer for, “What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever been given?” is written by Tonit Calaway, vice president and chief human resources officer at BorgWarner.

I wasn’t looking for a new job when I was approached by BorgWarner’s CEO about joining the global automotive parts supplier as its head of human resources. I had ascended the ranks at Harley-Davidson and was enjoying my role as chief human resources officer with the iconic motorcycle manufacturer.

Despite several invitations from the CEO to connect, I wasn’t initially open to an extended conversation. That’s when he took the unorthodox recruitment approach of pointing out areas where I lacked experience. He acknowledged that while I was good at many things, I had never worked for a large global organization the size of BorgWarner. Likewise, he noted that I had no experience working for a company challenged with integrating acquired businesses.

Despite some initial defensiveness on my part, it didn’t take long for me to realize he was right. He offered an opportunity ripe with new and challenging experiences. I accepted the position and haven't looked back.

I often tell this story when sharing my best bit of career advice: Never think you’re so talented or smart that you can’t make mistakes or learn new things. That’s when you’ll fall on your face. Had I turned down this job, I would have missed an amazing growth opportunity.

Admittedly, this openness to hard-to-hear constructive criticism isn’t something I’ve always possessed. It’s something I’ve had to hone over my almost three-decade career. In fact, I was fired from the first firm I worked for out of law school precisely because I didn’t take constructive criticism well.

Later as corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson, I received an interoffice memorandum from an executive about ways that I could improve my work attire by dressing more professionally. I knew I needed to do it, but it was still difficult hearing someone critique my appearance.

Since I believed this was keeping me from advancing as quickly as I would have liked, I dedicated myself to getting in physical shape and improving my wardrobe. I began studying fashion with a feverish intensity. I approached my fashion education like I would a complicated work assignment or research project. I learned everything that I could. I decided to make the criticism work for me. No one was ever going to tell me again that I didn’t dress well. I have dressed professionally ever since, though I maintain my own unique style.

While it’s still never easy to hear criticism, my attitude toward receiving it has changed over time. I’ve realized that constructive criticism can and often does help me to improve in my job. I always say that it’s at the exact moment in your career when you think you’ve got it made that you need to stop and take inventory of what you don’t have. In short, a little humility goes a long way.

刘颖

MPW内幕网络是美国的一个在线社区，美国商界内外的一些知名人士会在这里及时回答与职业和领导力有关的问题。今天为大家分享的是博格华纳公司副总裁兼人力资源总监托尼特•卡拉维在“你在职业方面获得的最好的建议是什么？”这一问题下的答案。

当全球汽车零件供应商伯格华纳的CEO找到我，邀请我出任这家公司的人力资源总监时，我当时并没想寻找一份新工作。那时我刚在哈雷截维森公司获得了升职，作为新任的人力资源总监，我在哈雷干得还很开心。

虽然伯格华纳的CEO三番两次地邀请我跟他见面，但我一开始并不想跟他深谈。这时他使出了在招揽人才时很不常见的一招，直截了当地指出我在一些方面还缺乏经验。他承认我在很多方面都做得不错，但我从来没在伯格华纳这样大规模的全球性企业工作过。当时伯格华纳正面临着整合收购企业的挑战，而我也没有丝毫这方面的经验。

虽然他的话一开始让我有些防备心理，但不久我就意识到他说的是对的。他为我提供了一个能够迎接各种新挑战的机会。于是我接受了这个职位，从此再也没有回头。

在有人向我征求职业建议时，我经常会他们讲这个故事。我认为，永远不要觉得你已经聪明到不会犯任何错或是不需要学习任何新事物的地步，否则你就离失败不远了。如果我当时拒绝了这份工作，我就错过了一个极为宝贵的成长机会。

必须承认，我并非总是拥有如此开放的心态，能接受一切建设性的批评。这种心态是我在职场中摸爬滚打了近30年才历练出来的。当年我刚从法学院毕业，就被第一份工作的公司炒了鱿鱼，原因就是我没有很好地接受建设性的批评。

后来我在哈雷戴维森谋到了一份法务工作。有一次，另一个部门的一名高管向我建议道，我在工作时应该穿得更职业些。我知道他说的是对的，但我仍然很难接受有人对我的外表评头论足。

但当我意识到衣着已经成了影响我职业进步的一个因素时，我立即行动起来，一边学习打理自己的外型，一边改善我的衣品。我开始以极大的热情学习时尚方面的知识，我对时尚的投入甚至不亚于我投入到任何一项复杂工作或研究项目上的时间。我学习了一切能学到的东西。我觉得既然接受了批评，就要让它对我起到效果。以后再也没有人会说我穿得不够职业了。从那以后，我在工作场合总是穿得相当职业，同时也保持了我个人的独特风格。

虽说我在听到批评时依然会不好受，但随着时间的推移，我对待批评的态度却慢慢发生了转变。我意识到，很多建设性的批评的确有助于我改进工作。我总是说，一个人在职场中越是志得意满的时候，越应该冷静地反省一下自己还缺少什么。简而言之，人需要一点谦逊和自知才能走得更远。