View video introduction by clicking here or on the photo besidee.

Cutting the Crush of Criticism

– Balance honesty with empathy

  • Do you ever feel crushed by the comments others make to or about you?
  • Do you ever offend someone unintentionally when offering suggestions?

 Whether feedback is seen as a suggestion or criticism is in the eyes of the beholder. 

Richard Back said, “We teach best that which we most need to learn.”

Certain people push my buttons. When they offer suggestions, I can end up feeling worse instead of better. Sometimes I am the one that pushes buttons unintentionally, and my desire to help is misinterpreted as criticism. I created this program so that I could learn to do things better.

When we can exercise objectivity and remove the emotion from the comments, we can glean the benefit from the comment and feel gratitude for the gift of another person’s perspective even if we do not agree with it.

No matter how self-aware we are, we can never know how another person views us until they are willing to step up and share it. There are times when the comments may upset or embarrass us, and my experience has been that those comments are often the ones that I needed to hear the most.

 

When we feel criticized, most of us shut down and may miss the truly helpful suggestions buried in those comments. This program can teach us to set healthy boundaries and gain the objectivity required to pull the helpful nuggets from the rest of the crap and benefit from the knowledge of others.

On the other hand, if we are so concerned about being liked and so afraid to upset or offend one another that we don’t share our honest feedback, we each miss the chance to share information that could enable all of us to grow.

Gain the tools to:

  • Add objectivity to the feedback of others so that we can receive the value
  • Draw and defend personal boundaries
  • Balance content and delivery so that our feedback is better accepted.

By developing the skill of objectivity and practicing personal preference, we can more easily accept the gift of another person’s perspective. Through exercising tact and demonstrating genuine care and concern, we can offer others the gift of our perspective and improve the chances of it landing.

By learning how to balance content and delivery, we can cut the crush of criticism and learn to both deliver and receive feedback. I hope you will join our mailing list and join us for a lunch and learn or workshop real soon.

Corporate and Service Organizations

This program is intended for working teams in a corporate or service organization setting, or for service groups. The concepts are delivered on-site at your business in your choice of format:

  • Keynote presentation or lunch ‘n’ learn.
  • Silver Package: Half day introductory workshop
  • Gold Package: Series of four half-day exploratory sessions
  • Platinum Package: Series of four half-day exploratory sessions and private coaching

Special introductory offers for the winter of 2018. Contact us for further information at (403) 601-2500 or email info@unbridled.ca

When one hears the word “leadership”, many interpretations come to mind. If you think of a leader as someone who realizes it is about others and that a good leader helps create leaders not followers, you are looking at Jocelyn Hastie’s leadership style. With thoughtful guidance Jocelyn provides the tools needed to gain confidence. As President of High River Toastmasters, Jocelyn adopted the motto, “Together, we’re better.” and like all of Jocelyn’s beliefs, she lives them in her actions. Jocelyn listens well and balances gratitude and accountability when working with team members.

I recently worked with Jocelyn on a full day “Speaker to Trainer” workshop. Jocelyn set the scene by recognizing the wisdom and experience of the participants. She understands and demonstrates how to help adults feel comfortable and ready to learn. It was amazing to see the transformation of the participants as they uncovered how much they already knew and how to link it to new learnings. Jocelyn readily gives the floor over to the expertise of others and promotes incredible growth. 

Jocelyn’s manner with people is very positive and she is a brilliant evaluator, giving and receiving feedback for the purpose of improvement. Jocelyn’s feedback is well accepted because of the uplifting way it is delivered. Jocelyn is an amazing facilitator and I look forward to continuing to learn with her.

Gail Maitland

Retired Teacher, Guidance Counselor, Calgary Public School Board

Jocelyn’s bio:

I began working in the energy industry while still in my teens. I took accounting courses at night and became an accounts payable supervisor at the age of 22. I was a good manager, but a poor excuse for a leader. I began studying this area to improve my skills. I’ve now been at it for long enough to have learned from many of the mistakes I’ve made over time and to have had a few exemplary managers who have modeled leadership skills, especially the very large and hairy instructors that are hard to ignore – my horses!

My vision for many years was to become a leader that truly made a difference in the lives of my co-workers. My vision now is to model and share the skills I have learned to make the world a better place for team leads and the people that report to them. As communication skills improve, self confidence and connection is developed. I am committed to creating keynotes and workshops that help me fulfill that vision.