Don't Talk about this 12 Bad Things at Work
12 Things Successful People NEVER Reveal About Themselves At Work
You
can’t build a strong professional network if you don’t open up to your
colleagues; but doing so is tricky, because revealing the wrong things
can have a devastating effect on your career.
Sharing
the right aspects of yourself in the right ways is an art form.
Disclosures that feel like
relationship builders in the moment can wind
up as obvious no-nos with hindsight.
The trick is to catch yourself before you cross that line, because once you share something, there is no going back.
TalentSmart
has tested more than a million people and found that the upper echelons
of top performance are filled with people who are high in emotional
intelligence (90% of top performers, to be exact). Emotionally
intelligent people are adept at reading others, and this shows them what
they
should and shouldn’t reveal about themselves at work.
The following list contains the 12 most common things people reveal that send their careers careening in the wrong direction.
1. That They Hate Their Job
The
last thing anyone wants to hear at work is someone complaining about
how much they hate their job. Doing so labels you as a negative person,
who is not a team player. This brings down the morale of the group.
Bosses are quick to catch on to naysayers who drag down morale, and they
know that there are always enthusiastic replacements waiting just
around the corner.
2. That They Think Someone Is Incompetent
There
will always be incompetent people in any workplace, and chances are
that everyone knows who they are. If you don’t have the power to help
them improve or to fire them, then you have nothing to gain by
broadcasting their ineptitude. Announcing your colleague’s incompetence
comes across as an insecure attempt to make you look better. Your
callousness will inevitably come back to haunt you in the form of your
coworkers’ negative opinions of you.
3. How Much Money They Make
Your
parents may love to hear all about how much you’re pulling in each
month, but in the workplace, this only breeds negativity. It’s
impossible to allocate salaries with perfect fairness, and revealing
yours gives your coworkers a direct measure of comparison. As soon as
everyone knows how much you make, everything you do at work is
considered against your income. It’s tempting to swap salary figures
with a buddy out of curiosity, but the moment you do, you’ll never see
each other the same way again.
4. Their Political and Religious Beliefs
People’s
political and religious beliefs are too closely tied to their
identities to be discussed without incident at work. Disagreeing with
someone else’s views can quickly alter their otherwise strong perception
of you. Confronting someone’s core values is one of the most insulting
things you can do.
Granted,
different people treat politics and religion differently, but asserting
your values can alienate some people as quickly as it intrigues others.
Even bringing up a hot-button world event without asserting a strong
opinion can lead to conflict.
People
build their lives around their ideals and beliefs, and giving them your
two cents is risky. Be willing to listen to others without inputting
anything on your end because all it takes is a disapproving look to
start a conflict. Political opinions and religious beliefs are so deeply
ingrained in people, that challenging their views is more likely to get
you judged than to change their mind.
5. What They Do on Facebook
The
last thing your boss wants to see when she logs on to her Facebook
account is photos of you taking tequila shots in Tijuana. There are just
too many ways you can look inappropriate on Facebook and leave a bad
impression. It could be what you’re wearing, who you’re with, what
you’re doing, or even your friends’ commentary. These are the little
things that can cast a shadow of doubt in your boss’s or colleagues’
minds just when they are about to hand you a big assignment or recommend
you for a promotion.
It’s
too difficult to try to censure yourself on Facebook for your
colleagues. Save yourself the trouble, and don’t friend them there. Let
LinkedIn be your professional “social” network, and save Facebook for
everybody else.
6. What They Do in the Bedroom
Whether
your sex life is out of this world or lacking entirely, this
information has no place at work. Such comments might get a chuckle from
some people, but it makes most uncomfortable, and even offended.
Crossing this line will instantly give you a bad reputation.
7. What They Think Someone Else Does in the Bedroom
A
good 111% of the people you work with do not want to know that you bet
they’re tigers in the sack. There’s no more surefire way to creep
someone out than to let them know that thoughts of their love life have
entered your brain. Anything from speculating on a colleague’s sexual
orientation to making a relatively indirect comment like, “Oh, to be a
newlywed again,” plants a permanent seed in the brains of all who hear
it that casts you in a negative light.
Your thoughts are your own. Think whatever you feel is right about people; just keep it to yourself.
8. That They’re After Somebody Else’s Job
Announcing
your ambitions at work when they are in direct conflict with other
people’s interests comes across as selfish and indifferent to those you
work with and the company as a whole. Great employees want the whole
team to succeed, not just themselves. Regardless of your actual motives
(some of us really do just work for the money), announcing your selfish
goal will not help you get there.
9. How Wild They Used To Be in College
Your
past can say a lot about you. Just because you did something outlandish
or stupid 20 years ago doesn’t mean that people will believe you’ve
developed impeccable judgment since then. Some behavior that might
qualify as just another day in the typical fraternity (binge drinking,
minor theft, drunk driving, abusing people or farm animals, and so on)
shows everyone you work with that, when push comes to shove, you have
poor judgment and don’t know where to draw the line. Many presidents
have been elected in spite of their past indiscretions, but unless you
have a team of handlers and PR types protecting and spinning your image,
you should keep your unsavory past to yourself.
10. How Intoxicated They Like to Get
You
might think talking about how inebriated you were over the weekend has
no effect on how you’re viewed at work. After all, if you’re a good
worker, then you’re a good worker, right? Unfortunately not. Sharing
this will not get people to think you’re fun. Instead, they will see you
as unpredictable, immature, and lacking in good judgment. Too many
people have negative views of drugs and alcohol for you to reveal how
much you love to indulge in them.
11. An Offensive Joke
If
there’s one thing we can learn from celebrities, it’s to be careful
about what you say and whom you say it to. Offensive jokes make other
people feel terrible, and they make you look terrible. They also happen
to be much less funny than clever jokes.
A
joke crosses the line anytime you try to gauge its appropriateness
based on how close you are with someone. If there is anyone who would be
offended by your joke, you are better off not telling it. You never
know whom people know or what experiences they’ve had in life that can
lead your joke to tread on subjects that they take very seriously.
12. That They Are Job Hunting
When
I was a kid, I told my baseball coach I was quitting in two weeks. For
the next two weeks, I found myself riding the bench. It got even worse
after those two weeks when I decided to stay, and I became “the kid who
doesn’t even want to be here.” I was crushed, but it was my own fault; I
told him my decision before it was certain.
The
same thing happens when you tell people that you’re job hunting. Once
you reveal that you’re planning to leave, you suddenly become a waste of
everyone’s time. There’s also the chance that your hunt will be
unsuccessful, so it’s best to wait until you’ve found a job before you
tell anyone. Otherwise, you will end up riding the bench.
Sources:
Comments
Post a Comment