If a friend found out your work was horrible, would you want to know? Or would your feelings be hurt?
If your coworkers think you’re doing something wrong, would you prefer that they keep quiet or that they call you out?
As a leader, do you prefer to have sycophants who sing your praises or people who are willing to tell you that you have no clothes?
Is your ego more important than doing a good job or self-improvement?
But what if the guy is just being an asshole who hates me and wants to discredit me?
Whether or not someone is an asshole is independent of whether or not his criticism is valid. You can call him out for being an asshole if you want, but you owe it to yourself to consider if any criticism given to you is valid and something you can act on regardless of whether the messenger is an asshole or not.
If you are afraid that having your mistakes called out will be damaging to you, consider how damaging it will be if you keep doing those mistakes and develop a reputation for them.
See Also