“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” I’ve seen this quote attributed many ways. But it’s a good, Stoic thought.
One of my early bosses taught me—don’t come to me with a complaint or problem statement; come with an observation and proposed solution.
In my turn in leadership, people would occasionally come to me with a “cool idea.” The expectation was that I’d go to work on it. I would respond, “That’s a great idea. Why don’t you grab the reins and lead that project.” Usually they would drop the idea and go away. Suddenly, it was not so “cool.” But a good, forward thinking idea with potential—those would get done. And a new leader born.
Click on the Follow button at the bottom of the page to subscribe to a weekly email update of posts. Click on the mail icon to subscribe to additional email thoughts.
