As an employee, there may have been times in your career where your have disagreed or been unhappy with a boss. The mature response would be discussing concerns directly with that individual. If that doesn’t work, then consider going above them, or as a last resort finding work elsewhere. Unfortunately, many employees take a passive/ aggressive approach and instead complain about their bosses to coworkers or even to customers. That’s a problem for everyone.

Whining about a boss hurts our own reputation more than that of the management about whom we are complaining. There are loads of jobs out there for competent people. Telling others about the ineptitude of management makes people wonder if we are too lazy or too unemployable to seek work elsewhere. It also shows disloyalty, disrespect, and a lack of discretion of what should be shared; especially with customers. The life lesson: Stop complaining. Do something about it.

Here's a wonderful phrase that separates service professionals from people who are just going-through-the-motions. In this case the employee was coordinating the conference room at a hotel where I was speaking. When he and I had finished going over the audio/visual set-up, he cheerfully offered, "Anything else I can do for you?" By using that phrase, he demonstrated that he wasn't just an employee who needed to set-up a meeting-room; he was a professional sincerely interested taking care of a customer. Simple sentence. Big difference.