Why You Don't Say Stupid Things At Work !

We all cause our own problems and can be our own worst enemies. We all say some really dumb things sometime and it seems that every day there is a news story about someone famous who has stuck their foot in their mouth...

It does happen, but try - and I mean try - to not let it happen at work. When at work we have to be on our best business behavior. It’s not easy but let’s gives it a try.

What is the best way to do this?

It means think before you speak.

If your company has a policy manual you should read it. It’s there to protect you and others from what the company deems as improper behavior. We live in a litigious society and at times what you may perceive as a funny joke may actually offend someone. The French expression ‘faux pas’ means a violation of accepted social norms.

One of the greatest co-workers I ever had called me with a problem. At the time, I was an inside sales manager, and he was the outside sales manager and he had to relay a situation he had just created to me.

It was mid-afternoon on a rainy Monday and he said, “I went to a large corporate account, and prior to my appointment with my internal company contact, was greeted by their support person.”

“The support person asked me how I was doing, and for some reason - maybe it was the dreary weather - I said ‘It was a good day for a murder.’ The next thing you know I was escorted out of the building and my appointment was cancelled.”

Wow !

At that moment, while I was listening to my co-worker, I was told that the owner of that actual company was on the other line wanting to speak to me.

I took the call and listened as the owner of the company said, “Don’t have that salesperson of yours ever come to our company again. As long as he doesn’t come back, we will continue to do business, just make sure he doesn’t come back.”

Of course, all I could say was “Yes.”

Now that was an extreme situation but my best advice, is to always “stay on message.” If by unfortunate chance you do say something that you regret - especially it has caused some type of business distress - the best thing to do is to deal with it quickly.

A smart business person addresses issues and problems without hesitation, and helps to eliminate any issue that might be interpreted as a negative.