How To Protect Yourself From Office Gossip
Every workplace is filled with interesting personalities — including frustrating ones.
If you feel like you’re surrounded by difficult people at the office, take heart. You’re not alone. Studies have found that one in eight people leave a job due to problems with coworkers.
Gossiping co-workers can be the most problematic of all. Not only do they distract you and drain your energy, but the negativity can have a damaging impact on your professional reputation.
As if you needed another reason to keep the chitchat in check, a psychological phenomenon known as “spontaneous trait inference” means that every time you’re involved with gossip, people start to perceive you as a gossip and may begin to question your motives or conclude you’re untrustworthy.
Dealing with difficult people and conflict can be hard for Sensitive Strivers. We tend to care deeply, don’t want to hurt other people’s feelings, and sometimes fall into destructive people-pleasing.
In a professional setting, boundaries are crucial to your success. Besides, there’s really no excuse for bad-mouthing anyway — be it your client, colleague or CEO — so here are three ways to deal with gossip at work.
