How can I keep myself open to "suggestions"? Shivani taught us these four things: see "suggestions" as opportunities for growth; assume the other person is well-intentioned and thank them gratefully; ask questions to avoid getting defensive right away; and start reflecting on the advice you receive. 1. See “advice” as an opportunity to grow Everyone has weaknesses, and what matters is how we manage them. No matter who gives advice, we can use it as an opportunity to grow.
Even if we don't agree with a company banner design piece of advice at all, or the person who gave it is someone we don't appreciate, we can still find something worth paying attention to in the advice. Just because all advice is "good" advice, doesn't mean we should do everything according to other people's ideas. Even advice that we feel is unfair usually has some truth to it. As long as we can properly categorize these suggestions and learn to respond gracefully, Shivani believes we will grow faster than those who reject them outright. So whenever we receive advice, we ask ourselves, "Where is this advice possibly true?" Shivani was once described by a colleague as being "aggressive" in meetings.
But for Shivani, who thinks he's always trying to create a work environment that's conducive to collaboration and interaction, he doesn't think he's causing other colleagues to feel nervous. At the same time, he also felt that the colleague was biased, because when other male colleagues showed similar "aggressive" behavior, they were praised by the colleague.