At the end of this seemingly endless winter, this cartoon in a local paper caught my eye. After I finished laughing, I read the accompanying article.

FLAKED OUT: How complaining about winter helps us cope.

Obviously, complaining can help me, but how does it help leaders?

This article notes the three simple things that leaders can do to turn complaints into gold.

Seek Employee Complaints. That's right. The first step is to actively seek out the very complaints that trapped your employees and you in the seduction of dependency. What you do with those complaints, however, will determine whether progress occurs.

Listen Without Reacting. It's so easy to get caught up in your own emotional reactions when receiving employee complaints. You are human, after all, and a long history of employee satisfaction surveys might have convinced you of the need to manage your image. The reality is there is almost always a gap between employees' perceptions of you as a leader and your self-perceptions.

Draw Out What Employees Care About. While a complaint generally crystallizes what an employee doesn't like or want, it fails to convey what's really important to an individual. The truth is, behind every complaint is an unfulfilled aspiration, a neglected commitment or a compromised value.