23 Ways to be Happy at Work: #11 - Don’t gossip
Do you gossip at the office? Be honest. You know you’ve gossiped at some time in your job or career. When you gossip, you are showing you are untrustworthy even if that’s not your intent. You compromise your credibility while undermining others.
When did I gossip? I know that I gossiped when I was scared of layoffs. I found myself trying to ferret out more information to verify my hunches. I admired the people who wouldn’t speculate because they weren’t going to play into the gossip game or they would not share what they knew. I drove one of my former VPs crazy during one of my fearful states. While she didn’t have to share information, she did confirm that there wouldn’t be layoffs so I should calm down.
From this situation, I learned that when there’s a void of information, it may be for other reasons. It turns out that I was completely wrong. In fact, there were other exciting things going on that were 180 degrees different than layoffs. But the damage was done. I lost credibility with my VP. I demonstrated that I had loose lips and couldn’t be trusted. No wonder she didn’t tell me about the exciting opportunity. She didn’t like what saw in me. In fact, she knew me better than I knew myself.
List the times you’ve gossiped. Do you see a pattern?
Do you gossip when you’re scared? When you’re jealous of someone else’s job or accomplishments? Has anyone been hurt by your gossip? What are the drivers in your behavior around gossiping? What can you change?
Our jobs are more enjoyable when we work with integrity by refraining from gossiping about others, the management team, or the company itself. We’re not happy when we’re the subject of gossip, so the best way to minimize gossip is to not participate in it.
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23 Ways to be Happy at Work Series
The 23 Ways to be Happy at Work series reflects on 23 ways to help you reflect about the course of your career. After deciding to identify what made me happy at work, my list became this list. Here the are the drivers to my happiness at work that may help you manage your career:
- Work by your values
- Love your work, love your career
- Decide what makes you happy in your job
- Work can be play
- Know the big picture
- Walk in your boss’ shoes
- What is the problem?
- Try the same old thing to get different results
- Try something new to get different results
- List your accomplishments
- Don’t gossip
- Don’t react
- Don’t worry
- Don’t be unhealthy
- Read up
- Read It
- Share knowledge
- Mend fences
- Be a squirrel
- Change your workspace
- Give yourself a gift
- Let it go
- Change this!
For previous entries in this series, click here.
