Dishing & Dealing Criticism
I've come to appreciate and become comfortable with knowing that I'm a polarizing person.
Part of it, I believe comes down to an Australian vs American cultural difference of blunt to polite (respectively). The other part that some people don't get, is I thrive on criticism and I never feel it to be personal. Rather, I see it as an opportunity to be challenged and expand my universe.
That's not to say I always agree with what people tell me, but I at least try my best to get why other people think very differently about the same thing. Sometimes I'm too limited to feel what they are saying and miss their perspective until later. Sometimes I express things in a way that convey a meaning different to my intent.
At the end of the day, if you take things personally and see moments as static rather than a journey with a destination that sometimes has steps in the wrong direction, we'll almost certainly feel turbulence.
I've realized, if you take criticism personally you won't fit at AirPair. If you aren't confident enough to dish it, you probably won't fit either.
We're here to drop our egos and do our best by learning from each other. We celebrate cutting the crap and getting down to business.