No Complaining

Lou Grant was the boss on the Mary Tyler Moore show. In many ways, he was a model for how NOT to lead, not because he was a bad boss but because most of us could not pull off that level of brash management backed up by a lightly disguised heart of gold. I've seen a lot of bosses get the brash but forget the heart.

I mention that because of something Lou Grant said in an early episode - the one where he first meets Mary -- when he was briefing her on office norms. "I don't have a lot of rules, " Lou said, "because then I'd just have to enforce them..." and then he gave her one (which I forget.) Rules are often forgotten and often poorly enforced. But here's a useful guideline: don't complain.

There isn't one team member on your team who is looking forward to you complaining. There isn't one executive at your organization who is hoping that you'll lodge a complaint or two. I'm not talking about really big complaints -- if someone is breaking the law or violating your organizations values and practices you should definitely DO something about it. But even then, complaining probably isn't your best course of action.

Don't complain. Act. Talk. Move the conversation forward into a positive direction. What CAN be done, rather than "woe is me this stinks."

A leader who complains drains away opportunity.

Make things better. Isn't that what leaders are supposed to do?

-- doug smith

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