To many folks, the idea of "workplace violence" connotes the physical harm that one may do to another. However, there is another form of workplace violence that is as dangerous and insidious, and this is workplace gossip.Gossip is any language that would cause another harm, pain, or confusion that is used outside the presence of another for whom it is intended.As a facilitator, trainer and business coach, I've experienced numerous workplace situations where gossip was a norm. Curiously enough, in these same organizations, most folks would say they were "against" it. Even more, in these same situations, after formal meetings to discuss the "gossip issue," after sensitivity workshops designed to reduce and eliminate pernicious gossip, after mandating "there be no more gossip..." and after pledging to have more honest, open and direct communication (wherein folks verbalized their "commitment" to speak directly to a colleague, in order to eliminate the "gossip problem,") many of these same committed folks consciously choose to continue to engage in the practice of gossip.Why?Gossip is essentially a form of attack, which often arise from an individual's conscious and unconscious fears. For some people, their ostensible commitment "not to gossip" is easily lost in their fears, anxieties, ...
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