Show me a place of employment where people gossip and I guarantee you the levels of trust and satisfaction are low and the sense of safety is squat.
There is a lot of gossip in the SEAL Teams. I joke around that the Teams are more like a junior high locker room than most realize.
Here is the ironic thing about gossip: Most people think they are building trust and connection when they gossip with their “friends.” What they are really communicating, though, is that they cannot be trusted with personal information.
In short, gossiping does not hotwire or instigate deeper bonds of relationship.
When a co-worker breaks someone else’s confidence WITH me, then I am skeptical that I can trust them with something I might confide IN them.
If you are a person who is tempted or prone to gossip – STOP.
You are only hurting yourself.
