How To Spot An Office Gossiper

It’s often difficult to be yourself completely in an office and people often wear a mask in their workplace to maintain a level of professionalism. That’s not a bad thing, but some of these people may be wearing a mask to hide the fact that they’re pathological gossipers. How can you pick them out when they’re hiding in plain sight? There are some ways to identify them.

It’s perfectly natural to talk about other people.; they’re just a point of conversation. Because of this, it may be hard to spot a gossiper when they’re subtly setting out to destroy the reputation of others in the workplace.

According to psychologist Sherrie Campbell on Entrepreneur, a pathological gossiper will “smile to your face while scheming to suck you in for the purpose of eventually exploiting your trust”. They’ll lull you into a false sense of security to get information out of you and even turn you into a gossiper as well.

It’s in your best interest to know who in your office is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. But how do you identify a gossiper when they are good at hiding their intentions? Campbell had this to say:

Be aware of any individual who seems to share too much too soon about themselves and who seems to have rigid opinions about others. Gossip, for you, will only feel good temporarily until you catch on to the fact that the person you are gossiping with will turn on you in a nanosecond.
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“This person can now share any information you told them in confidence. Learn to manage yourself and your relationships in the workplace doing what you can to keep them more professional and less personal.”

You can read up on the toxic behaviour of gossipers over at Entrepreneur.

Do you have a gossiper in your office? Let us know in the comments.

[Via Entrepreneur]


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