A long-time friend and mentor once told me a piece of advice that greatly altered the way I handle other’s perceptions of me. He said, “If everyone thinks you’re a jerk, then you’re probably a jerk.” What I extracted from that terse bit of advise was that our perceptions of ourselves can be fatally gracious. We are often so easy on ourselves that we ignore the repeated consensus of those who can see us from a less biased third-person view. It may well be argued that in many situations the popular opinion is inaccurate at best. This is certainly true if you’re a politician, CEO, Celebrity, or some other prominently public figure¹. However, it has been my experience that for the average, non-paparazzi-ridden human being, the judgement of our peers can be a tremendously useful behavioral barometer.
Continue reading Using Criticism for Good →