Are You Being Brutally Honest, or Just Brutal?

Sometimes, people who claim that they are just being brutally honest with others, are actually just being brutal. It’s as if they are attempting to justify their assessment of the situation by demeaning other team members and employees.

Truth, or reality is rarely brutal in and of itself, but some people tend to share unpleasant truth in a brutal way. Now the truth may be hard to face, and it may require taking some unpleasant actions; but a leader should be able to handle communicating unpleasant realities with confidence and some degree of compassion.

Keep these suggestions in mind when having to face and share hard realities:

1.      Recheck your facts and assessment of the situation. Make sure that the hard truth you are sharing is actually true.

2.      Focus on the truth being shared, not the character of the individuals being affected. Focus on the realities being faced and the decisions that must be made and actions taken.

3.      If appropriate, offer alternatives or assistance to those being negatively affected by the decisions being made.

4.      Prepare yourself for negative, even angry reactions.

When you are being brutally honest, focus more on being honest and less on being brutal.

 

 

Giving Constructive Criticism

Not only does a leader have to appropriately receive criticism, he also must be effective in giving criticism. A leader will have opportunity to evaluate team members’ performance and their contributions to accomplishing goals and developing strategies.

Here are some guidelines to consider as you provide constructive criticism:

1. Make sure you have earned the privilege to speak criticism into their lives. If the only interaction you have with a team member is when you are communicating a word of criticism, the results will not be satisfying to anyone. By pouring value into a person’s life over time, you will enhance the productive processing of constructive criticism.

2.      Communicate specifically the improvement you want to see and how it will benefit the team generally and the team member personally. Let the team member know when the needed improvement will be re-evaluated.

3.      Communicate the criticism sincerely and honestly. The person receiving the criticism needs to sense your desire that they grow personally and succeed professionally.

 A word of helpful criticism, given at the opportune time and in the right spirit can contribute significantly to the eventual success of your team. Ken Blanchard writes, “Some leaders are like seagulls. When something goes wrong, they fly in, make a lot of noise, and crap all over everything.”  When it comes to giving criticism, don’t be a seagull.