Pay Attention To Dissent

The mark of an intelligent person is how comfortably he handles contrarian views, and more importantly, how well he handles dissent. Nobody is perfect, no argument is airtight, no approach is the right approach, so there is always room for dissent. There will always be people who have something to say about what you do. Some call it feedback, some call it dissent, some call it jealousy. Regardless of how you choose to frame it, having people voice their dissatisfaction about your conduct or your work matters. You have to invite that by paying attention to their arguments. This is the only way to know what people think, how they think, and how far they stand from what you actually believe. They may be acting out of misunderstanding, or they might simply be lacking context you failed to provide. You can either resolve the situation or, at the very least, understand how your approach is being perceived. There is another kind of dissent, a quieter one, which we tend to avoid when it…