Keisa, like you, I once questioned myself because of a mentor’s opinion. He told me, “Ann, you’re just not strategic. You’re tactical, and that’s all you are.” His words cut deeply, and because I trusted him, I began doubting my abilities and professional value.
I did have room to grow strategically, but his delivery offered no path forward. Instead, it made one area for development seem like the sum of who I was. That experience taught me that feedback can either help people grow or cause harm. We must consider what is useful without allowing someone else’s judgment to define our potential.
Ann, I love that line, a path forward. This is such an important distinction. There is a difference between someone identifying an area where we can grow and making that area sound like the limit of who we are. Especially when those words come from someone we trust, they can shape how we see ourselves long after the conversation ends. We can receive what is useful without accepting someone else’s assessment as the final word on our potential. Both things can be true: we have room to grow, and we are far more than someone else’s limited view of us.
Keisa, like you, I once questioned myself because of a mentor’s opinion. He told me, “Ann, you’re just not strategic. You’re tactical, and that’s all you are.” His words cut deeply, and because I trusted him, I began doubting my abilities and professional value.
I did have room to grow strategically, but his delivery offered no path forward. Instead, it made one area for development seem like the sum of who I was. That experience taught me that feedback can either help people grow or cause harm. We must consider what is useful without allowing someone else’s judgment to define our potential.
Ann, I love that line, a path forward. This is such an important distinction. There is a difference between someone identifying an area where we can grow and making that area sound like the limit of who we are. Especially when those words come from someone we trust, they can shape how we see ourselves long after the conversation ends. We can receive what is useful without accepting someone else’s assessment as the final word on our potential. Both things can be true: we have room to grow, and we are far more than someone else’s limited view of us.