Stop Complaining and Start Acting

I travel often in my career and right now I am sitting in the Chicago O’Hare airport and am listening to two people grump about their jobs. Actually, I am a little amazed that they are being so loud about their feelings. My guess is they feel safe that no one knows them so they can “spill” their feelings without fear of repercussion. So far, they have discussed how their supervisor is not listening to them, not training them appropriately and not telling them what she really wants them to accomplish. In their opinion, it is a lack of setting priorities, no good training program and no clear expectations. A few things occurred to me:

• Stop complaining and start acting – if you are not getting what you want in your career, the person that is most responsible for that is YOU.
• Discuss solutions and get out of DRAMA – the act of lamenting problems is a waste of time, the act of finding solutions is a positive upward force.
• You just turned me off to wanting to listen to you and I’m a stranger sitting beside you in the airport – how do you think your supervisor feels when you bring this attitude with you to work? Much like the adults in the in Charlie Brown specials on TV, I am starting to hear “Wha Wha Wha Wha”.