7.9
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? In a team, those who do not accept others’ criticism cannot succeed.
Nowadays, team work is required in every type of profession, thus demanding us to collaborate well with our colleagues. A great team usually overcomes an outstanding individual on finishing complex jobs. Although it is not necessarily true that people who refuse to accept others’ criticism doom to fail in this world, accepting others’ ideas boosts one’s chance to succeed. In what follows I will illustrate my point.
As is known to us all, supports from other people in the same team are indispensable to fulfill a mission and to climb on the promotion ladder. If one doesn’t listen to others’ opinions at all, one will easily lose affection of one’s co-workers and then be isolated. For example, my classmate Jennifer who is supercilious and meddlesome annoyed her co-workers, including me so that we didn’t approve her project. We were to make a budget plan and figure out what we can to do to improve the life of poor children in our community. At first we had a great time discussing possible solutions such as collecting second-hand dictionaries and delivering free breakfast to kids; however, later Jennifer constantly tried to show off and obviously thought herself the finest person to be the leader. When we talked about visiting some children’s families and assigned the mission to every one of us, Jennifer refused abruptly. She said” I won’t go. I have something important to do on this vocation.” Well, according to one of our mates, Jennifer actually went shopping and hanged out that day. She didn’t care about the children but pretended to be warmhearted. I pointed it out to her but she took it like nothing. From then on, we ignored Jennifer in our project and she therefore couldn’t get what she wanted.
There is no doubt that people only criticize those who have dissatisfactory behavior or thinking. With faults and obduracy, one can hardly make progress and then succeed. Suppose a person is careless and forgetful and take no notice of colleagues’ suggestions and blame. One day he left a crucial document at bus by accident and his company relied on it to get a big customer. He didn’t manage to get it back and to all people’s surprise, declined to admit his mistake. His boss at last blew a fuse and fired him. He didn’t accept others’ criticism and his own inherent weakness prevent him from succeeding.
Admittedly, some stick to their own beliefs and finally prove themselves to be right. Steve Jobs, an innovative yet picky entrepreneur, met a lot of criticism for his picky taste and fickle nature but never surrendered to others’ criticism or lower his standards. His team once questioned his leadership and his way of doing business. Notwithstanding, Steve Jobs is now considered to be a real genius for he produced excellent products and reformed several industries.
In conclusion, in a team, people who take count of others’ criticism will succeed more easily to some extent.