Naresh, a man in his early thirties, had recently landed a coveted managerial position at his company. With his newfound authority, he quickly developed a reputation that would follow him throughout the office.
One day, the company was embarking on a high-stakes project for a prestigious client. The team was brainstorming about innovative processes to make this project successful. During the discussion, one of the team members started to share his ideas. Naresh interrupted in the very next minute saying “I have a better idea….” And he shared his idea.
Due to Naresh’s experience and expertise, the team agreed to follow him. However, as the project progressed, in every review meeting, Naresh kept on criticizing all the Project managers. His constant remarks were “Your thinking is limited” “You should use a more optimized approach.”, and “Your timelines are unrealistic. We should have planned this better from the beginning.”
Every meeting used to end up with “I have a better idea”
This behaviour earned him the nickname “Captain Critique” among his colleagues.
One fateful day, during a particularly intense project meeting, he once again launched into his criticism. The project lead, Kapil had enough. He calmly turned to him and said, “Naresh, if you have such strong opinions about this project, why don’t you show us how it’s done? Take the lead on this part of the project.”
Kapil’s challenge was a breakthrough point. Naresh realized that his constant criticism had alienated his team and hindered their progress and he has become a classic “armchair critic”. This belief of “I have a better idea for you” was also hampering his personal life.
He decided to change his approach. He began to actively listen and participate in project discussions, offering constructive suggestions and lending a hand only where he was asked. Slowly but surely, he started to earn the respect of his team members.
Over time, Naresh evolved from being an armchair critic to a more effective and supportive manager.
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