How much of your time is spent worrying about what your management thinks of you? Everyone wants to be seen in a positive way and that they are doing well at their job. When things are going well, you may not think about this too much at all…after all things are good. It becomes more challenging when you get some feedback that you did something wrong or you aren’t doing as well as you thought. You start to watch what you do and what you say all the time. It takes away from your productivity and focus.
There is a quote by Lao Tzu that says “Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.” Just think about that for a second. Do you want to give all the power that you have to someone else? You can’t control what they think or what they do. All you can do is control your own thoughts and behaviors.
Think about the feedback that you have been given. Try to be objective about it and ask yourself “is it true?” Maybe it is something that you didn’t realize you were doing or something changed in a process and you didn’t know. Is it something that is easy to address and move on? Everyone makes mistakes. You can’t go back in time, you can only go forward. What can you do going forward to either address the issue or change your behavior?
Face the music if you have done something wrong, but don’t let that mistake define you. Adjust your behavior accordingly and move forward. Focus on doing the best you can and believe in yourself.