There have been some harsh reviews of Jo Koyâs hosting performance at the 2024 Golden Globes. IndieWire referred to the opening monologue as âruinousâ. The Guardian called it a âbad gig for the agesâ. Koy is a seasoned comedy professional and as recently as 2022 played the lead in a comedy film, âEaster Sundayâ. Even star players fall flat.
In your career, you will face bad day at works, an unsuccessful project, an unsatisfied client â maybe all three, multiple times over. Here are 3 tips for surviving a bad outing at work:
1 – Donât get defensive
If you get negative feedback or hear criticism about your work, acknowledge that feedback first and separately from providing a rebuttal or defending yourself. If there is additional information for you to provide, you can still do that, but your first priority is listening. This ensures the person who shared the feedback with you feels heard. It also encourages people to speak up in the future.
Koy admitted to feeling hurt by the criticism and acknowledged having an âoff nightâ. This shows he heard the feedback and accepted his part in it. There was some defensiveness in pointing out how little time he had to prepare, but overall his immediate responses have been good examples of acknowledging feedback in a neutral way, even when itâs negative (see tips for talking positively about a negative experience).
2 – Make a balanced assessment of what happened
While some reviews focused only on the bad, Variety was more muted, citing a âmixed responseâ in assessing Koyâs performance and summarizing what bits worked and what didnât. Hopefully, Koy in his post-mortem of the performance takes that balanced approach. Negative feedback stings and can hijack your attention during a performance review or project debrief. However, itâs important to look for what worked (even when wins are few) so you can build on strengths.
In fact, strengths-based coaching is what I recommend for my clients tasked with managing direct reports and/or teams. This means giving specific feedback and examples on the positive things your staff is doing, so they know what good work looks like and what specific things to keep on doing. Calling out the positives also gives your staff confidence, which can encourage them to work through difficult times and on difficult areas they need to develop.
3 – Think about what you would do differently next time
Koy told PEOPLE that heâd like âfive months, not nine daysâ to prepare before hosting again. In addition to prep time, maybe you needed to structure your overall work time differently â e.g., building in more check-in time along the way or leaving a buffer before the final output was delivered. For a longer-term project, you might have needed more guidance along the way from your manager or project sponsor. If you were working on something new, maybe you overestimated how much you could self-teach and need to ask for coaching or specific training on software or processes youâre unfamiliar with.
For upcoming projects, or as you see your scope of responsibility growing, anticipate where you might need extra time, support or other resources. Enroll your manager to help you before agreeing to the project. Even if you donât get approval for everything you ask for, you have at least set expectations upfront with your manager about you need to perform at your best.
Jo Koy leaves the door open for another opportunity â and so should you
Even as Koy acknowledged how different hosting is from his typical stand-up and how difficult the criticism was to hear, he also told PEOPLE that he would âlove toâ host again. Leaving the possibility open for additional opportunities is the best way to move forward after a bad outing at work. Your next big project or client (or hosting gig!) might be a resounding success, and then you will be remembered, not for the failed outing, but for the win â as well as a capacity for resilience and self-improvement.