The (crude) of criticism

Learning to give an opinion:

There has been countless discussions in media and the news on how women should communicate. Some feminists advocate for women to stop the (over) use of terms such as "sorry". Others, on the contrary, argue about RBF syndrome and ask women to "be sweeter". The conversation gets far more complicated in the workforce. In a day and age where gender equality is often a complicated discussion, the fine line of what how to behave and react is rather blurred.

But all of these conversations are rather contradictory, merely because the act of telling someone "to be themselves" and then to go forth and recommend methods of how that should be performed is ludacris.

The importance of learning to give an opinion and criticism is not the sole responsibility of women or men. In all moments of life, we are forced to accept and give criticism and our opinions. Learning to provide that commentary - and to take it - is crucial. Ultimately, I am preaching to the choir and I am often guilty of ignoring criticism. Particularly the one regarding my personal life. However, the greatest thing I have learned in the professional world (in my short year and a half in it) is that taking the ego out of the equation. You have to stop and take away your personal opinions of that person, whatever they may be, and acknowledge that constructive criticism is the only useful one. Remove yourself, and view the situation from an outside perspective. Your ego gets in the way of your judgement. You want to belittle people, you want to protect a friend, or you don't want to be beaten. Whatever the case may be, it is pointless to bring those thoughts to the conversation. And if you are at work, just remember that both of you are there to fulfill the goals of the company (whether you love it or not). And when the company performs well, you will be in a better state. Hurting your coworkers will only hurt yourself. And when people critize you, whether it be with or without the ego, don't take it personally and try to learn from them. If they are in fact trying to make you feel bad, then revel at the fact that they are far more immature than you are. And they'll likely not see it coming when you respectfully listen and accept their critiques.

Even if inside you're telling them to go f themselves.