Juicy gossips, those are hard to resist. Humans are naturally curious about things, that’s why we always want to know the juiciest news. No wonder that most paparazzo are earning huge amount of money. Let’s call the gossip at work, corporate gossip. There are some corporate gossips that are good. Example would be: “Jake is working hard, I heard that he will be next in line for the promotion. He deserves it.” But there are some malicious corporate gossips. It goes like this.” Jake is about to get a promotion. I know he will get that because he dates the boss. “
Obviously, the latter one is bad. Here’s what you can do if someone tells you a malicious corporate gossip, or if you are involved in it.
Don’t stick with gossiper officemates. If you are always with them, eventually you will become like them. They might be having fun. But the truth is, your colleagues are not happy to be with them. Gossipers are hated because not only that they spread rumors, they tend the exaggerate it. Their motive is not just to tell stories. They want to be the center of attention. Attention seekers don’t gain a lot of true friends. As much as you can, stay with people who are neutral. Stay with people who are positive. These people don’t believe in gossips right away. They look for facts first. And just in case they hear a malicious gossip, they always give benefit of the doubt.
Don’t react when a gossip is being told. Gossipers love it when they see people loving their gossips. Of course, I wouldn’t want you to be rude by leaving when somebody is telling you a rumor. What you can possibly do is to smile. Make the conversation a positive one. Going back to the sample given above, you can just say, “Maybe he deserves it too. I have been seeing his work. In fact, he’s always working overtime.” If the gossiper says that he is sure of it and that his source is reliable, you can politely tell him that it is his personal life after all, and that you should get back to work.
If you’re involved, do something about it. If you’re the topic of the gossip, be calm. Don’t be mad just yet. Investigate. Try to see how it all started and try not to be affected. If you found out who started it, confront him. But be professional. Don’t make a scene. Invite that person for a coffee and then clarify things. Good thing about gossip is that it automatically dies. Just live a normal life. As long as you know that you are not doing anything wrong, you shouldn’t be affected.
Gossips will always be there. You just have to learn how to deal with it and the gossipers as well.