In my new book “You Are the Team—6 Simple Ways Teammates Can Go from Good to Great,” I talk about the need for teammates to be positive—the Fourth B. Here is a powerful excerpt from that section on refraining from negativity…
One of the methods to stopping the spread of negative gossip on teams is to promote the spread of positive gossip.
The Canadian Mental Health Association has suggested that positive gossip can indeed minimize the poisonous spread of negative gossip. You can start by promoting positive gossip yourself. Talk freely about the strengths of others on your team, and celebrate the successes that your teammates have. In other words, be a positive gossip machine! Such positive energy becomes contagious, and soon others on your team will also be spreading positive gossip. Teammates will start looking for the good in each other instead of the negative.
An example of something you might spread includes, “Did you hear how well Mary did on her results today? It’s true; she did really well. We sure are lucky to have her on our team. Mary really goes the extra mile in everything she does.”
You may also spread something like, “Did you hear that Mark killed it on his sales presentation with the Logo Company on Friday? They liked it so much that they are buying twice what we projected! Can you believe that? He worked so hard. I am really proud of him and glad he is on our team.”
Positive gossip beats negative gossip any day, and it almost always passes the triple filter test! Have fun with it, and promote the positive! Positive teammates contagiously create positive teams.
What ways do you combat negativity on your teams? Please comment below. Or simply say hi 🙂 I personally reply to every comment.
Also see one of our most popular posts of all time “Do You or Someone You Know Gossip at Work? Very Practical Story.”
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