John Gordon’s book The No Complaining Rule is an anecdote of a woman at a company whose employees are unhappy, she has a potential cancer diagnosis, and her husband recently left her and her 2 teenage kids. In Chapter 6, she says to her daughter ‘dont be such a complainer…you sound like the people i work with.” “complainer! Complainer! Youre calling me a complainer? Countered her strong willed 17 year old daughter. Thats all you do is complain. You walk in the door and complain about yoru job. You complain about the people complaining to you. Then you get on the phone with grandma and aunt pam and complain to them for most of the night..all you do is talk about how bad life is. “
This is our week on language, so I want to acknowledge how complaining sounds. The words often draw comparisons, draw on past experiences which were better, and blame others for our circumstances.
Have your players listen out for complaints, and have them call one another out on it when they hear it. Maybe put together a coalition of ‘complaining police’ who point out when someone is complaining about something and call them out on it with a simple ‘wee woo!’
There is a time and place for venting. We all need to let it out. On our teams, that place is privately to captains or coaches, not in front of the whole group.
