Sam http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/aa19971ba1dd6eb8c980b9a8ebfbff46?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG Sam asked: If elected, it's possible you will receive some criticism of your decisions from time to time, sometimes quite vehement criticism, which you may feel is unjustified, how will you handle this?

Ben Pilbrow http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/8319c829f0b0a7e7f4e07faa513fe261?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG Ben Pilbrow answered: If I made a moderator action, I would be clear in my reasons and would stand by them. If asked about it I would explain them from my point of view

Ward http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/f347c53c9cb1ddcb816daeb22aaf89c8?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG Ward answered: Read it, see if there's anything to learn from it, reply to it, ignore any overly strong criticism.

Chris S http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/71838b1ccd71421a3fc3db6612ba83c1?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG Chris S answered: By responding in a cool and collected format, to explain what I was thinking. People get the most angry when mods make unjustified decisions that are disagreed with. When you talk it out, you might still disagree, but people are much less mad at you.

ErikA http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/b8f700857e67da1a482498c35e39338d?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG ErikA answered: I actually thrive on criticism. In past jobs, I have asked for more criticism from management, as I feel this is one of the best vectors for personal growth. Now, if criticism is unwarranted or overly inflammatory, I'll just try and suck it up and deal with it.

freiheit http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/0e68b82b2d7a20eba36c9fbe4350dd0d?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG freiheit answered: First off, I would read it, understand what's behind the criticism. Think about it a bit. From there it depends, of course.

MDMarra http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e6742a4db416a14e4b0201e0ee2f2506?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG MDMarra answered: That's what Meta Server Fault is for. This is, first-and-foremost, a community. That's what makes it so successful. If a user disagrees with my mod action, I'd encourage them to go open a meta question. I actually do this now already when I VTC something and the OP complains.

pauska http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/736558f18dfae17d79cf0479cac2838f?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG pauska answered: I would reply to the criticism as one would at any other situation - learn what you could have done better and don't explode if you know that you're the one who's right (which sysadmins usually do). I'd still defend my actions if they were just.

voretaq7 http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/03b75a71937ed56b4d9c3d244f776d05?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG voretaq7 answered: Meta is the place to talk about that sort of thing. I'm not perfect, and I'm sure I'll make mistakes. If the community thinks I did something wrong I'm happy to reverse myself, and if a user takes a mod action personally I'm happy to explain why I did what I did & talk it through.
Stack Exchange sites are unique in that moderators aren't the last word -- Every mod (on this site at least) seems to be open to input from the community and I would continue that trend.

WesleyDavid http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/a5ff577e70b04252ff110946377fd706?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG WesleyDavid answered: Remember that another person's criticism, regardless of their delivery, may very well be right. Assess it on it's logical merits, learn from it, and then be done with the controversy as soon as possible.

Iain http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/5ed89f9c3282d40e51e5573a30a8fe97?s=16&d=identicon&r=PG Iain answered: I'll consider what's been said and try to understand it before progressing - learn from it and then decide what to to.