Opinion: Gossip grows into noncontact sport at work, breaks camaraderie

You know, the salacious delight of stringing syllables together about events or people about which you know absolutely nothing. Gossip is the noncontact sport of workplaces that fills the stands every morning with eager competitors throwing elbows under a slimy message board slathered with the latest dirt.

I will take a risk here. I am convinced that gossip falls into the same category as lying, insubordination and theft in the workplace. Gossip at its core is dangerous and malicious.

When employees cloister themselves into caustic coveys that have no other intent than to spread around heaping helpings of hearsay, I believe the result is always destructive. If gossip is the norm, no one will feel safe.

And, safety is what keeps us clocking in each day. If we do not feel psychologically safe (fear of retaliation, fear of bullies, fear of job security) we will, over a period of time, find another place to spend eight hours each day.

I am convinced gossip can be reduced and even eliminated if a workplace would agree to ask the following four questions:

• First, if you cannot say it to my face, what is your fear? Gossip is inherently passive-aggressive.

It means you have strong aggressive feelings but you do not have the ego strength, aka intestinal fortitude, or skills to say these words to my face. Gossip is the “chicken” choice when we are surrounded by people who do not share our views.

• Second, if you do have the glands for honesty, is the information you have based in fact?

Have you personally observed or researched what you know about me, or are you a compliant child playing the game, “whisper down the lane”?

It always amazes me that gossip is usually disgorged with curled lips, spittle and the kind of passion reserved for child molesters and dog kickers. Unfortunately, this volcanic verve often fizzles in the presence of the one being gossiped about.

• Third, does your workplace wink and nod at gossip as an acceptable but irritating organizational reality?

Has anyone in senior management ever said to your work force, “Gossip, making comments about people or programs in our workplace that are not based on fact, is unacceptable. We will not tolerate this behavior.”

You may not have heard this because gossip is often the coin of the walnut-paneled realm. The eradication of gossip must begin at the top.

• Fourth, what has gossip done for you lately? Really, think about this. What is the remedial value of gossip? When has gossip ever made things better in your workplace? Do co-workers feel perfectly giddy with delight when they know they have just been lanced onto the coffee break gossip-kabob?

Gossip is the engine for “Entertainment Tonight,” the cover of “People” magazine and … our workplaces.

We cannot do anything about Hollywood, but we can do something about our companies. You can control your work environment.

Cal LeMon of Executive Enrichment Inc. solves organizational problems with customized training and consulting. He can be reached at execenrichment@aol.com.[[In-content Ad]]