Linus on "acting professionally"
Regardless of the rectitude of either point of view, I consider it important to develop the resilience necessary to soak in difficult language. You can't decide - or always influence - how your peers or bosses talk to you. More importantly, you may miss the feedback the language comes with - feedback that might help you improve yourself.I deal with a yelling boss by hearing him out and then, once the moment has passed, rerunning the event and mining it for real criticism, minus the emotional baggage it came with. If I find nothing, I disregard his gibber entirely; if I find something substantial, I make note of it and (in the days that follow) try to weed it out.Worst case: I get nothing useful, in which case the boss was simply venting. Best case: I learn something about myself, and get better in the process.