Toxic phrases in the workplace

Think before you speak - you might be advertising your attitude in the wrong way

 
You might not realize it but the simple things you say can be toxic to the workplace. Not arsenic-like, career-ending toxic (although there are a few of those too!) but in a more insidious way. Like overeating or smoking they won’t get you today or tomorrow or maybe even this year. On any given day they don’t bite back and tell you to stop. But they work their evil slowly, day by day, little by little.

I’m talking about “I wish it wasn’t Monday” or “I can’t wait till Friday” or “I’m fine, thanks for asking but I’d be even happier if I wasn’t here!”  Many of them are pleasant enough, probably in many cases even true enough! They are often said in good humour. But when uttered in the workplace they eventually start to grind us all down.

Hear one of them too many times in a week or a month and those feelings bubble to the surface for you too. Say them too often yourself and you’ll be bringing others down around you. And if you’d like to advance your career - well, you are clearly telling your superiors that this is not your number one priority. Let’s face it, in this world of family comes first, there’s more to life than work and many of us probably have other more important priorities - but that doesn’t mean you should advertise it! 

 Imagine you were the boss picking the next person to take on a new challenge - would you give the opportunity to “Mr. TGIF” or would you give it to “Ms. Glass Half Full”? Ms. Half Full might well wish desperately that she could quit her job and retire to Costa Rica - but she keeps it to herself.

Think before you speak.  

Similarly toxic mistake: 

Answering routine questions like  “How are you?” too truthfully!

Answers like “Oh, ok, I guess” or “I”m getting by” etc. etc.

Try “Great!”

The great might catch on with others. Say it enough times and you might even start to believe it. But the negative answer has no point. In fact, odds are the person who asked you doesn’t really care! How are you? is more akin to “Hi” - a means nothing greeting. So greet them back with cheer, not a downer answer.

Thanks to Steven -and- Silvia for the photo via Flickr. Check out their Photostream.

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