007 | 7 steps to deal with workplace gossip as a female Christian leader (Gossip Series #5)

Gossip Series #5

Please listen to Episode #1-4 if you haven't yet. 

I left the best for last and I am super pumped to chat with you today about navigating gossip as a female Christian leader.

Get your notebook and pen handy, because this is going to be a super tactical episode.

Let’s do it!

So by now you know all the negatives and you know that I feel super passionate about you doing something about those gossip girls, those gossip queens, the grapevine guardians.

But what do you do about it?

Are you ready, here we go.

1. Pray

Pray every single day that God will guide you, and give you wisdom and knowledge in every situation.

Put on the armour of God:

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

2. Do self-reflection

Ask yourself these questions and answer honestly.

• • Do I gossip?
  • Do I inadvertently encourage gossip?
  • Do I talk the talk, but not walk the walk?
  • Do I demand my team to respect each other, but I yell, embarrass, belittle, slander or gossip about my team?

You don’t have to share this with anyone. But all I’m asking is for you to be honest with yourself, right here right now and in this moment.

When you join my 6-month group coaching program, we do this together, 1:1.

I am going to help you dive deep into you and your leadership style. The aim is not to make you feel inadequate, target your inadequacies

No, the aim of this is to understand who you are and why you are the way you are because this greatly impacts your leadership style.

3. Assess the current situation at work

• • Complete the free risk assessment on gossip in your workplace. You can gain access to this by simply joining the free Facebook community.
  • Identify the gaps and come up with an action plan
  • This may include creating clearer boundaries surrounding no-gossip in your workplace, SOPs regarding addressing workplace culture issues etc.
  • Involve your leadership team and train them to understand the importance of getting rid of gossip and why.

Now, when you join my 6-month group coaching program, we delve very deep into this process and I work through the risk assessment with you, I support you in identifying the gaps, we put the action plan together, we create guidelines, policies, procedures, pledges, SOP’s, everything you will and might need, we’ll be doing it together and I’ll be holding your hand every step of the way.

4. Speak to your whole team about the new expectations moving forward

Gather your team and let them know that you are committed to providing them with an environment that is positive, encourages growth mindsets and is a safe space for them to be in. Let them know that gossip will no longer be tolerated and that you are making a commitment and would like them to make a commitment as well, to strive for a gossip-free environment.

When you join my program, I will provide you with a script and we’ll run through this together, I will coach you through the whole process and we’ll even do a couple of practice runs when your team don’t agree or doesn’t want to participate or when they are being difficult. What do you do? We’ll be doing some intensive training on this so you are super prepared and know exactly what to do and say.

5. Start spotting the gossipers

Start documenting when and where people are gossiping, and who are they gossiping about.

I would recommend keeping a OneNote document with each of your team members having their own tab and then just start keeping notes on each of them. This will greatly help you down the line when you have to have more serious conversations with them or even issue warnings etc.

If you are not keeping individual notes on your team yet, I would highly recommend you start.

This in particular felt icky to me as a leader because the bible says in 1 Corinthians 13 1:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”

And in Jeremiah 31:34

“Implicitly, God does not keep a record of sins. As he promises through Jeremiah, concerning "the least to the greatest": "And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins"

However, this is different because if you want to set the bar high, if you want to set the standard, you need to take the necessary actions, which include keeping people accountable for their actions.

6. Support your team

Support the staff who are committed to change and train and support new staff coming into your work environment. Make sure that they all receive training, especially the new staff so they know the expectations on them with regards to gossip (basically that it’s a gossip-free zone).

7. Provide an ongoing positive work environment

For each team that will look different. Ask your team what they want this positive work environment to look like. Does that include team building, effective communication training, Friendly Fridays, online staff meetings, get-togethers etc. The Sky’s the limit.

How does this sound to you? Doable? I hope so!

I’d like to personally invite you into the first round of the 6-month group coaching program where you will take some serious action to move your workplace/department or organisation from toxic to thriving.

Do you want a proven system that has helped countless other leaders take their organisation to the next level?

By getting rid of gossip, you can provide a safe and harmonious workplace environment for your entire team! How does that sound?

Awesome right?

But, you’ve got deadlines, you’ve got reports, you have training to complete, new employees, interviews, and then on top of that you might have your own family needing you at home, and you just don’t know when you’ll find the time to figure it all out because you do not have the time to sit still and to think about.

You’re probably listening to this podcast in your car or whilst you doing something else because you do not have the time to simply just sit and listen, let alone complete an audit of the current situation and come up with an action plan.

That’s where the program comes in. Do you have 1 hour a week, that you can commit? Do you have 1 hour that you can utilise to go through the program and within 6 months, get rid of gossip… for good!

For a moment, visualise what a work environment without gossip looks like, feels like and sounds like.

You can hear your team chatting about sports, the new local cafe that’s opened, and their favourite coffee spots along the beach. There’s not a bad or negative vibe or word in sight.

That’s what I want for you. Nights where you can sleep not worrying about the workplace culture issues at work.

Peace at home because you’re not taking your frustration with your team, out on your partner, your husband, your wife or even your kids. Because let’s be honest, they often get the short end of the stick.

You gain back the time you’ve spent on mediating conflict, claims of bullying, claims of discrimination and the list goes on.

This is all possible.

Please go to womenoffaithinleadership.com and fill out the application form to join the program.

I will be in contact with you shortly after.

I look forward to seeing you next week, with a brand-new episode.

Next steps:

1. Navigate to https://www.womenoffaithinleadership.com where you can:

• Join the community of like-minded female Christian leaders. This is where I will be hanging out if I'm not on the podcast chatting to you all. Come share and support each other here. 
• Subscribe to my newsletter so you can stay up to date with all upcoming episodes and any other exclusive or special offers.

2. If you need any support, you can get in contact with me for a 1:1 coaching call, simply email me at support@rikawhelan.com

3. Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rikawhelan

Upcoming From Gossip to Growth Program

Sign up for my upcoming Program, where I will be taking you through a step-by-step guide to get rid of workplace gossip… for good! Navigate HERE to sign up for more information.

I look forward to chatting with you in the next episode. Make sure you don't miss it!

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