When is it right to complain about lack of resources and problems, and when is it a sign of a person who is less than a stellar performer, an excuse-maker, or someone already planning their retreat?
It is interesting that some of the strongest people rarely complain. Let's take a famous example - Lt. General Ulysses Grant (18th U.S. President). He led the Union Army to defeat the Confederate Army, and his leadership helped win the Civil War. Interestingly, he was widely recognized for not complaining to Lincoln about the lack of resources (or about much of anything else). If he didn't have horses for the cavalry, he found a way to do without - even while others believed it was impossible to fight a war without cavalry. He had his share of setbacks, but in the end, he prevailed, sometimes due mostly to his sheer determination and will.
Similarly, there are proposal professionals who fight the battles and don't complain about the lack of budget, imperfect capture, tight deadlines, or tough customers and difficult proposal team members. They work through being sick and dog-tired. They may be controversial (like Grant), and not everyone's cup of tea, but they get the job done. They may mention how difficult it was after the fact. They keep their sense of humor about it, and even as they tell the story, it shows that they are tough as nails.
Interestingly, the best proposal managers with the highest win records almost uniformly demonstrate the characteristics of General Grant. Our consultants, who are like this, usually only contact us for tools and templates while they are on assignment, and our customers rave about them and keep inviting them back. This is too obvious of a trend to overlook.
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