Jinx Walton

Title: Director of computing services

Company: University of Pittsburgh

Walton is this month's Premier 100 IT Leader, answering questions about colleague conflicts, the job market and leveraging an MBA. If you have a question you'd like to pose to one of our Premier 100 IT Leaders, send it to .

I'm often thrown into projects with a co-worker who is down on everything that our boss and our company does. I've tried to help her channel her anger into positive things that could result in improvements, but she seems to just want to complain. It's wearying working with her. What can I do? Your attempts to adjust your co-worker's attitude are admirable but obviously futile. It is unfortunate, but some individuals are happiest when they are complaining. Since you now know that she is not going to change, your time is best spent focusing on your tasks and limiting your interactions with her to those necessary to successfully complete projects. To keep her attitude from negatively impacting you, it is important that you distance yourself from her beyond those interactions required for the assigned projects.