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“Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting”, said Napoleon Hill. If you do well and become an expert or a leader at something, you will most likely get “haters” and criticism.
Here’s why you have to learn to live with critics and criticism, especially if you want to someday be someone great.
Having Haters: The Price of Leadership
Have you ever noticed that whenever a beginner starts drawing most people react positively even if what they made isn’t that good? You’ll hear “oh that looks nice” and all that, but you’ll rarely ever hear “that looks terrible” even if it does look bad. People are most often polite in those cases.
On the other hand, when someone actually starts getting good, you’ll likely see more people pointing out their mistakes and errors. I personally see this on social media with people giving unwanted “constructive criticism” in the comments section of artists I follow (like Sakimichan and several others). They criticize how certain parts look, how the hips are too big or the hands are too small and other such details even if it’s the artist’s own preference.
Those kinds of comments can really affect newer artists, though older ones have gotten used to it and use them to improve if necessary. They also more often ignore the more obnoxious comments altogether.
You’ll experience something similar later on when you someday become a leader in your field.
Leaders get things done… despite what others say
Your job as a leader is to organize people to get things done. Unfortunately, not everyone will agree to or like what you have in mind. For example, some people think walls should be painted white, others think they should be painted gray, while others want it to be some other color. Choose one, and others may hate you for it. You can’t please everyone after all.
That’s the price you’ll need to pay when you someday step up and lead. You become responsible for bigger and more important things, and you will need to persevere despite all the inevitable mistakes and failures that you’ll make, and the criticism that come with them.
A real leader cannot be slandered or damaged by lies of the envious, because all such attempts serve only to turn the spot-light on his ability, and real ability always find a generous following.
— Napoleon Hill
One final disclaimer:
Never mistake good negative feedback for criticism. Use them to improve yourself, especially when you’re making a mistake and you’re no longer doing the right thing. On the other hand, remember that popularity and mass approval is not always a sign that you’re doing the right thing either. After all, even dictators and mass murderers like Hitler and crime bosses have followers and fans.
The main lesson here is that you need to keep doing the right thing, the things that need to be done, no matter what critics say. Critics will start to appear once you learn to lead, and you have to prepare for and get used to them.
Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
— Eleanor Roosevelt