ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > April > 27 > Entry
What’s your secret?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Office politics can seem like fun and games but can also be very destructive to a career.
One of the most common types of office politics is passing along a “secret.”
We’ve been told and listened to secrets that are personal, about business situations and about the company, which include complaints about coworkers, promotions, pay scales, and friends and family matters.
When we tell someone a secret, we want it to remain confidential. When we are told a secret, it is meant to remain confidential.
But it’s only human to want to communicate a secret. It can relieve tension, help overcome anxiety and resolve problems. We can all use feedback on personal and workplace issues.
When the secret remains confidential, the outcome can be beneficial to the person who told the secret. I think our intention is often to maintain the trust that was afforded us when we’re told the secret.
However, too often when someone says the words, “don’t tell anyone,” they give out permission to pass it on unknowingly. That’s when things can run amok, and cause problems for many directly and indirectly involved.
Recently, a woman accidentally learned of a mistake made by a senior manager outside of her department at work. She passed her “secret” along to a “wrong” person. The information got back to the senior manager, who in turn told the woman’s manager about it. The woman was “called on the carpet” for her gossip and it took months for her to make amends.
What’s been your experience with secrets in the work place? When have you been burned? When did you burn someone else either inadvertently or deliberately? What lesson did you learn? What lesson are you willing to pass along in hopes of helping someone else avoid a painful experience?
Comments
By Xarts
May 2, 2006 08:20 AM | Link to this
I have always been a gossiper when it comes to office politics, but a lot of that also comes from working for a company where there are lots of secrets.
I have now been gone from one of the Arts companies in town for a while now and there are still group of us that get togehter and gossip about our former coworkers. Its an art form (ha!) I know my boss would call me on the carpet for spreading gossip, but one time when he was lecturing me i made a point of saying that if the upper management would tell us things-important things-, then we wouldn’t have to gossip. He never bugged me again about it.