Can I Tell You Something You’re Not Gonna Want to Hear?

Nic Bittle: Life and Leadership

In this episode, Tarina shares a big announcement and Nic talks about how his dad used to drag him out of church when he’d misbehave.

In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about the in’s and out’s, do’s and don’ts of constructive criticism. First, on the punch list knowing that for criticism to be constructive it has to be information that someone can use to do better.

Unfortunately, many superintendents and foremen call “constructive criticism” isn’t constructive at all. It’s just plain insulting. So, when done badly, you run the risk of creating resentment, not improvement.

Kind of like Nic’s dad, you want your apprentice or direct report to “find Jesus somewhere between the church pew and the door.” Your criticism, then, needs to be done in private and after you’ve already created an environment where praise for what your people do well is heard more often than what they do wrong.

A lot of us lead the way we were led. And despite all his know-how, Nic confesses how in the heat of the moment (especially in an airport—almost always in an airport) he has to consciously channel the best version of himself. If he doesn’t, he says he’ll probably get tazed or give the person he yells at a $96 tip (true story).

Real leaders develop their people. They give them time and space to discover how they can do better—which is more effective than the old school way of “if it stings it sticks” method. People are going to make mistakes. Most of them are survivable. You and your team, though, will grow when they know you’ve got their back—especially as they learn their way to success. It’s sometimes hard, but you can leave them better off.

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