Gossip...the culture killer

Long time no see all! I've been a busy bee these last few months. The good news? I've moved! I'm now in Arizona working with an extremely exciting young and dynamic group. I hope you all keep me in your thoughts as I embark on a new journey, still blogging away when the passion comes!

You know there are a lot of things that impact a company's culture. One of the ones that I always come back to that continuously perplexes me, and why people use it, is gossip. Why do we still need to gossip? What is gossip?

Rumors and secrets and lies, these are the types of things that come from gossip. They create fractions within an organization, they rob teammates of trust within an organization, and most importantly they make it extremely difficult to work together. When you work in an organization that has gossip as an unintentional core value, you're in trouble. Unintentional meaning it happened without you intending it to, but your culture fostered an environment to allow the behavior to manifest itself. 

Culture is how people experience an  organization. If people experience your organization by seeing others talk about their colleagues, what are they supposed to expect? They know they'll be talked about too. 

Gossip is not to be mistaken for keeping one another in the loop. Managers should talk to one another about what's going on in their departments, as long as it is beneficial to the organization. Camaraderie in the office is not a bad thing. We spend more time with colleagues than family these days. But when that camaraderie becomes detrimental to the overall work environment, then we have a red flag. The keyword is beneficial. Open lines of communication can be fostered, and trust can be built without gossiping about other people.

I always challenge my teams and the organizations that I work with this premise: that if they hear gossip, if they see people gossiping, or if they are in the middle of gossip, to stand up and be different. Countless numbers of organizations today call integrity one of their core values. If integrity is one of your core values, the  stand up for what's right and protect your teammates from your teammates who aren't being teammates.

Despite what individuals think, gossiping fractures teams because when teams do not trust each other, they find it very difficult to work together. They withhold information, they no longer have the organization's best interests at heart, but rather their own. And most importantly within the tribal leadership spectrum, they are at best level 3 leaders. They are about themselves, and not the organization. If you want to move from a level III to a level four tribe, a "we're great" organization, make sure everyone knows they have to lift up their teammates, not tear them down.

We are all human, and we all make mistakes. No one is immune from the gossip. That includes your executives. But it's important that when you recognize it, to be adamant about squashing it. Whether it means you have to be accountable to others, because you've done it, or if you have to hold others accountable, do it. Be self-aware, and challenge your teammates to be self aware. It can affect the bottom line more than you know. 

Be inspired, stay engaged, be the change!

-AI