Chad Silverstein says chronic complaining spreads like a virus through companies and kills culture. He hired for happiness and performance after watching The Secret, and warns that complainers don't advance. Leaders should redirect negativity toward silver linings or remove negative people fast.
Chapters
So when I looked at day 184, I couldn't help but think about one thing. You know, running my company for 25 years, you work with a lot of people. And it's amazing how many people complain so much. They always find something wrong that they like to bitch about. They can always find the one little thing that bothers them, their pet peeves. And. And they have no problem sharing it. And it's such a contagious virus within a company because you actually influence other people. And typically, you know, misery loves misery. They love company. And so they find other people who will listen to them. And it's just miserable. It's miserable for the positive people. I remember early on I saw a film called the Secret. You may have seen it. It's about positive thinking and attracting things into your life. And I love that kind of stuff. I'm a big believer in your thoughts or things and that you can make things happen when you're very pos and you constantly focus on them. Vision boards, all that stuff. And I remember I got rid of a lot of people after I watched that documentary because I didn't want to be around anyone negative. And so I filled my office up with just really happy people. And our performance went down a little bit. But I had incredible customers, Customers, customer service. And I had really happy people who were smiling, and I take that all day long. Eventually, we got better and smarter and started hiring people who were happy people in life and also could perform. But people who complain, and people who are looking for others to complain too, are just problems in any culture. And something that's like the unspoken sabotager is the person who's listening to it. Because the only reason that someone has the free reign to go ahead and complain about whatever it is they're not happy about is because someone's willing to listen to it and to be able to have a strong core and to kind of put someone in their place nicely to try to find that silver lining. Spin the conversation where it could be more of a positive vibe or just tell the person, just stop complaining or just stop hanging around the people when are complaining the most, you just don't win. So if you're watching this and you tend to be unconscious of the fact that you're one of these individuals, you have to wake up. You have to wake up, and you have to realize that nobody wants to hear you complain. Nobody cares. And you don't get anywhere by complaining. You get places by performing. So if you look at two people in any company who have the same role and one's being paid more than the other. Look and see what the common denominators are because chances are you're going to find that one of them is not going to be common and that is that one's performing at a high level and that's why they're being paid more and they're positive and they're a go getter and the other not so much. There's a, a whole thing that used to go around where people would wear those bracelets. They'd snap themselves with a rubber band if they complain to try to like get themselves out of complaining. It's like a human nature for us to find something wrong with whatever's going on. And who are we first? Quick to shoot in the back, the leader. So go out of your way to not be one of those individuals. And if you're a leader, just accept the fact that a lot of people around you are going to be like that. But you get to choose if you're going to have those people in your office or not. So choose wisely and don't complain about it. If you don't have positive people around you, make some changes. Fire fast.
