Over the course of any career, you are sure to have complaints both
large and small. It is a simple fact of life that our work is not always
perfect. That said, some people can fall into the role of the constant
complainer – someone who always has a complaint at hand, ready
to toss it into any conversation, whether appropriate or not. Worse
still, these people can lead others down the wrong path and enable
them to become a constant complainer, as well.
Now, this is not to say that you will never have anything to complain
about, but complaining without thinking or attempting to resolve
your problems first is absolutely worthless. Complainers that rebut
any
attempt to help them out of their situation, or those that constantly
find one problem after another, will soon find themselves outcast
by both their co-workers and possible even their company. You need
to
make sure that if you have a complaint, you are the first one to
offer up possible solutions to the problem. Your initial solutions
might
not work, but they pave the way for others to get involved and work
on the problem with you. Constant complainers can sometimes get their
problems resolved, but it is usually out of the frustration of others
than any sincere attempt to solve the problem itself.
Complaining can be dangerous to everyone in a company, as well. It
has a way of spreading throughout a company if left unchecked. Even
the smallest complaints can take on a life of their own, especially
if there are some accomplished complainers to keep the issue alive.
Complaining can also be dangerous to you individually, too. There
have been times in my career when I have had to actively avoid
some co-workers
in order to remove myself from a bad situation. You have to be aware
of what is happening and short circuit the complaint cycle if is
becoming unproductive. Otherwise, you run the danger of being lumped
together
with the complainers when management decides to address the issue.
The fact is, management could decide to remove the constant complainers
rather than address the source of the complaints.
Due to all these issues, it can be very helpful to have outside resources
to discuss your career and work complaints. In this way, you can work
towards resolving your issues without effecting your day-to-day reputation.
I consider this the best of both worlds. In some cases, this might
be your friends who work for other companies, your mentor or anyone
with a kindly ear. I know I often call upon my friend, Sam, when I
am facing a difficulty with a client. He knows me well enough to offer
good advice and knows that I will accept that advice without reservation
even if I can’t act on it, at the moment. Sometimes, the most
important thing we need is simply someone to listen.
To offer up another resource for discussing your career issues, I
recently started a regular Career Complaints topic on the Career
Opportunities
forums at forums.friendsintech.com. Here you can discus your career
issues, work issues, fears and wishes with a dedicated group completely
disconnected from your workplace. I only have one stipulation for
this forum, beyond the usual requests to be professional and polite.
If
you have a career complaint, you have to have one thought, one idea,
one plan on how you can address the issue before you bring it up
in the forum.
I know, sometimes it can be difficult to see your way out of a problem
when you are buried inside it, but by looking for one possible change,
no matter how small, it forces you to think about your problem as unemotionally
as possible. It is in this conscious thought that you find the beginning
of a solution. This is as true for life as it is for your career. Don’t
worry, though, I will respond to any posts to this forum area and your
fellow Career Opportunities readers and listeners are sure to chime
in, as well. You won’t be alone. I only ask that you take the
first step in building your own personal solution to your problem.The
next time you are tempted to gather around the water cooler and complain
about your job or your career, I hope you will turn to your friends
and family, or the Career Opportunities forums, so you can develop
the solutions you need without damaging your reputation or your career.
- END -
Career
Opportunities
