Don't Gossip

We all know there's plenty of drama in a workplace filled with Creatives. It's like a union rule or something. One of the first steps you can take to minimize that drama is to cut back on the gossip. And the best way to do THAT is to not be a gossip yourself.

Social gossip can be harmless. Who's dating who (unless one of the who's is married, or is the other who's boss) or whose tie doesn't match their belt, or whatever, can be meaningless. But gossiping about business matters...now THAT'S a bad thing.

The worst culprit here would be you, as a leader. If you do it, it sets the tone for everyone else. But it also signals some problems with your leadership.

If you're gossiping with your employees about things going on in the company, that implies you don't have good communication within the company. If information is being traded as gossip, rather than being passed openly and honestly from leadership to workers, that's bad. When employees hear you gossiping about business matters, then they start wondering what they AREN'T being told. If your employees know you don't trade in gossip then they'll pay more attention to the things you DO talk about.

Don't talk trash about the people above you, and don't sit around with your employees badmouthing policies from above. Remember, once you have to carry out policies, they become yours, rather than belonging to some vague "they." If you're criticizing the policies you're supposed to carry out, it becomes much harder to enforce them when your employees think you don't agree with them.

Do NOT talk about your employees with other employees, especially if you're being critical. I used to have a boss who would tell me how disappointed he was in others...all I could think was, "what's he saying to them about me?" Remember, anyone who gossips to you will gossip about you, so the quickest way to lose your employees' trust is to start talking to them about each other.

Along similar lines, if someone comes to you with a complaint or a concern or a new way of thinking, don't go blabbing it to others. People will stop coming to you if they think you can't be trusted to keep your mouth closed, and you'll shut off important communication from your employees if you do that. So don't do that.

Gossip is unprofessional, and gossiping about the business creates a lot of problems, especially if YOU do it. It can be tough to get your employees to stop, but it should be fairly easy to make yourself stop. Just. Don't. Do. It.