9/8/2026 10:32:14 AM | 1 minute read

'Development without deficit' - avoiding self-criticism as a starting point for professional development

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Jacqui Tookey

Principal HR Consultant

Get in touch

Jacqui Tookey

Principal HR Consultant

Looking in the mirror is something I try to avoid as I age, but self-reflection is a crucial aspect of our ongoing personal and professional development, so holding that mirror up is essential to genuinely grow and learn.

In her recent post, Dr Amanda Super, Chartered Occupational & Coaching Psychologist, captures this perfectly by reminding us of Carl Jung's idea that personal growth does not always need to start with identifying a deficiency or problem. Instead, development needs to begin with a deeper understanding and acceptance of who we already are, including our strengths, values, motivations, and aspirations.

Dr Super challenges the common tendency in professional & leadership development and performance management to focus primarily on gaps & weaknesses; undoubtedly, challenge is important, but she argues that an exclusive focus on deficits can limit growth and overlook our valuable sources of capability and resilience.

The central message is that development is often most effective when it combines honest self-awareness with self-compassion, rather than self-criticism. What makes Dr Super's post particularly insightful is that it reframes development as expansion rather than correction.

Many public sector organisations operate within accountability frameworks that naturally focus on performance issues, risks, compliance concerns, and improvement plans, and this post reminds us that sustainable development also comes from understanding:

What people already do well.
The conditions in which they perform at their best.
Their intrinsic motivations and values.
Existing strengths that can be leveraged more intentionally.

Many leadership and performance frameworks implicitly assume that growth begins with identifying what is wrong. Rogers' paradox, echoed by Dr Super, suggests something more nuanced:

The more accurately we understand and accept our current reality, the better positioned we are to change it.

Okay, fetching that mirror now, ignoring the blemishes and wrinkles, and instead seeing the whole person reflected back: the strengths, relationships, capabilities and successes. From that place of acceptance and self-awareness, we are often better able to decide what we want to change and how we want to develop.

Some of the most interesting developmental conversations aren't prompted by a problem at all. They begin with curiosity about what is already working, what someone is learning about themselves, and how they want to develop from here.

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