In a church environment there are always those who take it upon themselves to criticize the work others do. Having been born into a pastor's family I cannot tell you how much criticism of our work I have heard. The funny thing is that people criticize for many reasons but it seems that the biggest one is to make themselves seem important. Don't get me wrong...there is such thing as constructive criticism, but church folk seem to almost never use this type. Let's take a look at some of the reasons people criticise:
1. "If I criticise his/her work it will make others think that my opinion is how that work is measured". This is totally untrue. If your criticism is negative it will almost always guarantee that you will be seen as a negative person who is never satisfied, and people will spot your fakeness right away. If the person you are criticizing has been doing his job for years before you came along...how can your words measure success that has already been there?!?
2. "If I criticise his/her work it will make him/her change what they're doing to the way I want things to run". This one is usually meant to manipulate how the leader does something. True leaders can usually spot this and just ignore the intent (I know I do!)
3. "If I criticize his/her work it will make me seem powerful and important." It actually makes you look stupid and manipulative...who gives importance to someone like that?!?
4. "If I criticise his/her work it will get me a position in church." Yea...right. What leader wants to appoint someone who always negatively criticises others with the intent to make them look bad and make themselves look good?....nobody!
The list goes on and on and on. I can tell you from personal experience I never listen to critics...they will always be there. One of the keys of leadership is knowing how to navigate and handle these people and not letting their words sway or move you from doing what you're doing...especially if what you do has proven success.
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