That pretty much sums it up. I can’t tell you how many times in my
career I’ve had people come to me and say, “Why aren’t I being paid
more? I told you two months ago this wasn’t going to work. I’m probably
the only one who really knows what’s going on here.” What would you
say? This is an easy one for me to answer…

I just quote them the title to this post. If you’re not finding (and
presenting) solutions, you’re not bringing anything to the party. All
you are is a complainer, a whiner, and a nay-sayer. Do you really think
I would give you a raise (and / or a promotion) for those dubious
qualities? The last thing I need on my management team are a bunch of
complainers and whiners. I don’t need people who can tell me what’s
wrong. I can almost always see what’s wrong.

What I need are people who can help me see how to fix / improve whatever
problems exist. If you want to impress me, bring me solutions. That
makes you a problem solver and not a whiner, thus making you more
valuable to me as CEO and more valuable to the company in general.
Because you’re more valuable, you stand to make more money, and be in a
position to take on more responsibility.

If you’re a CEO, the worst thing you can do is listen to the
whiners. They suck valuable energy and enthusiasm right out of you. I
never let anyone bring a problem unless they brought three possible
solutions with it. That ensured that I got the best possible solution
to every problem the company faced. Consider such a policy in your
business and stop the whiners in their tracks.