Don't Get Mad, Get Promoted!

Feeling frustration when coworkers aren't pulling their weight is understandable. Those who show up and give 150% of themselves often find their efforts enabling others to only give 50%. What's a person to do? Give less? Lash out at coworkers for loafing or supervisors for failing to take action? Nah. Doing so might feel good, but it rarely does anything positive for those set on making a good impression and seeking a higher level of job satisfaction.

Risking coming off as a complainer or lowering your own performance standards damages your professional image. How is that teaching the loafer anything? I learned early on the best way to get my work environment running the way I felt it should be was to buckle down, work my tail off and get promoted. Once I was the one holding the reins, I had the ability to address the work habits of others that drove me crazy. I also had the opportunity to gain a little perspective on why supervisors made the decision to rely more on some employees while allowing others to come up short. At the end of the day, when you have deadlines and goals to meet, sometimes it's just easier to deal with what you've got and make it work versus getting distracted with the time it takes to motivate others to do their part.

That's not to say that offering constructive feedback to supervisors and coworkers is never to be done. If you can craft a way to deliver your message in a way that you feel will generate results and not create friction, more power to you. Too often the argument tends to be about what is or is not fair and what the supervisor should and should not be doing. On those issues, you are wasting your breath. Much in life isn't fair and supervisors have more to worry about in their roles than making sure all is balanced appropriately. If you have a really good supervisor, they are likely on the stick enough for you to have not needed the conversation to begin with.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is to keep a reasonable view of what your current situation is and the best path to a solution. Lashing out and complaining rarely works. Walking out of environments because someone else isn't doing their job does more damage to you than the loafer. You'll just have to explain to future employers how you left a job because something wasn't fair. Not exactly a bragging point for interviews. Bite your lip, keep doing the things that set you apart from the others, earn those promotions and use your new found responsibilities to make the changes other supervisors weren't willing or able to tackle. Allow those who frustrate you in your environment to motivate you to move higher versus giving them the power to litter your career history with temper tantrums and premature departures.