We’ve all been there before. You’re at happy hour with some friends, and the conversation turns to work. And, for some reason, you just can’t help yourself. You start bad-mouthing your team, your boss, and your company. It feels good, but trust me, it’s not worth it. Here’s why…
It Makes You Look Unprofessional
If you can’t hold your tongue about your team or boss at happy hour, what makes anyone else think that you’ll be able to do it at an important client meeting? When you bad-mouth your team or boss, you’re not just reflecting poorly on them—you’re reflecting poorly on yourself. And that will not win you any points with the people who pay your wage.
It destroys morale
We all know that one team member is just a negative Nancy (or Ned). And guess what? No one likes Negative Nancys. They bring everyone down and make going to work feels like a drag. So, if you don’t want to be that person, stop talking trash about your team or boss. It might seem like harmless venting in the moment, but it does have an impact on morale.
It makes you look disloyal
Loyalty is essential in any relationship—including the relationship between an employee, an employer, and perceptive employers. And one of the quickest ways to show that you’re not loyal is to start bad-mouthing your team or boss behind their back. If you can’t say something nice about them, it’s better to keep quiet. After all, no one wants to work with a snake in the grass.
You never know who’s listening
In today’s age of social media, it’s easy to forget that anything and everything can be shared with the click of a button—including those drunken rants about your team or boss that you thought were only being shared with close friends. People cant hold water these days, so before you start throwing shade left and right, remember that anything and everything can be screenshotted and shared with the world wide web—and that’s not something you want happening.
It’s just not worth it
In the end, bad-mouthing your team or boss is not worth it. It reflects poorly on you, hurts your morale, and makes you look disloyal. When it gets back to them, and it always does, your relationships become tainted. So next time you feel the urge to vent, put a cork in it and save yourself the headache. Trust me; you’ll be glad you did.
In short: it makes you look unprofessional, destroys morale, and makes you look disloyal, and anything and everything can be shared online nowadays. So save yourself the headache (and potential career suicide), and keep your thoughts to yourself.
Do you have any stories of people bad-mouthing their team or boss? Did it end well? Share in the comments below!
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