Gossip and drama in the workplace isn’t nice for anyone. It causes unnecessary stress, sleepless nights and anxiety for those who find themselves to be the hot topic right now.
For those who work a 5 day week, you will spend 260 out of 365 days a year in the office, so naturally you don’t want it to be a toxic environment. Stress at work is taken home, it rubs off on your loved ones too, it also puts you at risk for increased heart attacks. In fact, Europeans with high demanding jobs with stress and little autonomy to make decisions were shown to have an increased chance of heart attack by 23%.
I am personally up for creativity at work, however workplace gossip is where I drawer the line! It’s not nice to be the topic of the week, being kept squarely out of the loop, with people inventing stories in order to add to the gossip mill while those that are being spoken about are clueless to their own “colourful antics”...so much so, the gossiper may find themselves in a new career in fictional writing-they may have crafted quite the story!
So how do we avoid workplace gossip and idle chit chat? Here are some of my suggestions below:
FOCUS on what you are employed to do, your job! Put all that energy into building yourself and those around you up, instead of knocking them down. If you start hearing chit-chat, excuse yourself from the conversation- create a clear and level head!
PERSPECTIVE - your professional career is a marathon and not a sprint. When climbing a ladder you have to do so one step at a time! Look at the big picture instead of one moment in time, you may be at a low right now, but there have been several highs to balance it out. Don’t loose hope, just because there has been one bump in the road; this is short term especially if current gossip and dramas are involving you.
TRUST - find yourself a group of people you trust, and surround yourself with them. Don’t encourage idle chitchat and instead work on each-others positives and progression. Build one another up, and encourage confidence!
Treat those as you would like to be treated - I may not be religious but the bible gives us a great mantra to follow “Luke 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you” it’s important to place yourself in the shoes of others from time to time. Don’t get involved in idle chat, and if you found yourself surrounded by it, don’t add your grains to the mill! Quietly and kindly remove yourself from those toxic workplace situations. Remember that a flower can only grown when it’s conditions are right, if you and your coworkers allow negative behaviour to continue without addressing and correcting it then you have contributed to the toxic ground that the flower cannot survive in.
Lastly, #BeKind it was little over a year ago that everyone was using this very hashtag to highlight the suicide of a much loved celebrity Caroline Flack. We don’t know peoples individual circumstances on a day-to-day basis; consider this when you next gossip that “Karen was ruuude today”…that comment or ignorant look of disgust could be that final straw for a person.
People often say I’m always happy! The truth is, it doesn’t come naturally some days, but kindness is contagious and should be thrown around like confetti. Your random act of kindness in that day could make someone’s entire week! My kids tell me “you will talk to anyone”…it’s true I will, but that tiny conversation with the elder lady in isle 4 of Tesco, could be the only interaction that person has had. Jerry Springer hosted a controversial show but would always end on the phrase “Take care of yourself….and eachother” - those who ever watched his show would be saying it in his accent and with the pause in between!
I leave you with this poem, about Gossip - Nobody’s Friend:
My name is Gossip. I have no respect for justice. I maim without killing. I break hearts and ruin lives. I am cunning and malicious and gather strength with age. The more I am quoted the more I am believed. My victims are helpless. They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no name and no face. To track me down is impossible. The harder you try, the more elusive I become. I am nobody’s friend. Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same. I topple governments and wreck marriages. I ruin careers and cause sleepless nights, heartaches and indigestion. I make innocent people cry in their pillows. Even my name hisses. I am called Gossip. I make headlines and headaches. Before you repeat a story, ask yourself: Is it true? Is it harmless? Is it necessary? If it isn’t, don’t repeat it.
~ Author Unknown
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