How often have you brought a gripe or problem to your boss just to get it off your plate and let them know there is an issue?

How do you handle those situations when you are the boss and are trying to juggle several projects at the same time and you don't have time to listen to someone's complaint? 

While it would be more productive when people complained about something that they also proposed a solution regarding how to fix the issue, we know it is human nature to want to criticize things that bother us. 

Here are five ways to handle office whiners from an article in BizPhilly Business (Shelley -  5/8/15):

1. Confront Them Head On - Explain to people who constantly complain that their grumbling is bringing you down.

2. Weed Them Out - During job interviews, ask potential hires to discuss past workplace incidents where there were disagreements and how they handled the situation.

3. Get Positive - Let them know you hear what they are saying and then ask them if they have a solution to the issue.

4. Empower Them - Many times people complain because they don't feel like they have a seat at the table. When someone is objecting to something, empower them with the responsibility to fix the problem.

5. Ignore Them - When a colleague starts to complain, don't engage with them. Your silence may get them to be quiet for a while.

From the perspective of a supervisor, it builds rapport and trust to listen to a subordinate when they are moaning about something. In addition, you might learn something and it gives you an opportunity to show the person a different side of the situation they may not have considered.

​Please leave me a comment about how you handle colleagues who complain at work and check out the video below for more ideas about how to handle whiney employees.  

Does the truth matter anymore? Not your interpretation of the truth, but the actual truth itself.

In our society today, many people desire to frame the facts into lies that allow them to espouse their narrative as truth.
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Would you be interested in taking a new drug that had not been properly vetted so the company could make more money on a medication that could potentially harm you? As a victim of a crime, would you want your case investigated by a detective who didn't care about the facts? Would you want to commit our country to war based on lies fabricated about our enemy? 

Most people would answer, "No" to those questions, yet the examples above have happened in recent history.

​Here are Ten Lies of Contemporary Culture as detailed by Dr. Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College and the author of 80 books on philosophy, theology, and apologetics. (Keep in mind these are lies):

1. You can be whatever you want to be. There is a little good in the worst of us and a little bad in the best of us.

2. The most important person in the whole world is you. Whenever we worship ourselves we make hell.

3. You can save the world.

4. You need education in creative thinking. You are the creator of truth.

5. You need education in critical thinking. Not the search for any positive truth, but a negative skepticism towards anything that claims to be truth.

6. All peace is good including peace with the world, the flesh, and the devil.

7. Christianity can be reduced to peace and justice.

8. The exaltation of openness, welcoming, and tolerance as the supreme good.

9. All you need is love. All discrimination is evil, especially the discrimination between good and evil.

10. Exaltation on freedom as an end, rather than a means. No matter how smoky, stinky, and slimy the darkness in your life gets, it cannot endure the light of your soul.

Regardless of how woke society gets and how many battles are lost in the "culture wars," the light of truth is imperishable. 

All lies die. The truth alone remains.

Please leave me a comment about your thoughts regarding the importance of truth in our culture and in your life.     

Are you able to use humor to be a more effective leader?

Can you make appropriate jokes and laugh at yourself in order to lighten the mood and put others at ease?

According to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, "A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done."

In the book, The Humor Code: A Global Search For What Makes Things Funny by Peter McGraw and Joel Warner (Simon and Schuster 4/1/2014), the authors have some recommendations about how you can use humor to be a better leader:

1. It's not whether or not you're funny, it's what kind of funny you are. Be honest and authentic.

2. If you can't be "ha-ha" funny, at least be "aha!" funny. Cleverness is sometimes good enough.

3. Good comedy is a conspiracy. Create an in-group.

4. Don't be afraid to chuckle at yourself. It signals that everything is okay.

5. Laughter is disarming. Poke fun at the stuff everyone's worried about.  

An office needs humor. Data suggests we laugh much less during the week than we do on the weekends. Every chuckle or laugh has beneficial effects on the workplace and the people working there. Humor relieves stress and boredom, boosts interaction and security, and stimulates creativity and engagement.    

According to anthropologist, Edward Hall, "As a leader, if you can learn to control the humor of people, you are also in control of almost everything else."

Please leave me a comment about your thoughts regarding humor in the workplace. Is it something that you use to lighten the mood in your office?

​Also, please watch the short video below to learn more about the importance of using humor in the workplace and how it can improve your standing as a leader. 

Are you an effective communicator? How do you know?

To be good at delivering the message you are trying to communicate, it must be thoroughly understood and carried out in a timely manner.

When I was a hostage negotiator with the Cincinnati Police Department SWAT Team, we were taught a formula for effective communication. That formula was 7% - 38% - 55%. It stood for: 7% of our communication is done through the words we use. 38% of our communication is relayed through the tone of voice we use with those words, and 55% of our communication is accomplished through our body language and facial expressions.   

According to author, keynote speaker, and Harvard University instructor, Carmine Gallo, some of the most effective communicators are elite fighter pilots in the U.S. military.

Gallo lists four communication skills he learned from observing these exceptional military pilots:

1. Life-Long Learning - These individuals are voracious readers who are constantly looking to expand their knowledge and understanding.

2. Debriefs and Feedback Loops - Through the debriefs after each flight and the feedback from their fellow aviators, these pilots learn what went right and what went wrong. In addition, they understand how they can improve, what they should have learned, and how they can get better as a member of the group or squadron.

3. Clear and Concise Communication - Fighter pilots achieve clarity by putting the most important message up front when communicating during a mission (BLUF: Bottom Line Up Front).

4. Exceptional Presentation Skills - Aviators must constantly brief their colleagues on different missions and objectives. They continually practice these skills with constructive criticism to get better.

What do you think of the abilities listed above that fighter pilots use to be proficient communicators?  

Please leave me a comment below about your thoughts regarding being an effective communicator and what tips or techniques you use to make sure your message gets across to your audience.