05.06.06 The 4th Practice for Responding to Negative Gossip About You : Consider Ignoring the Gossiper and Focusing on Your Performance

Consider Ignoring the Gossiper and Focusing on your Performance

There are times when ignoring a gossiper could be the best choice rather than engaging the person directly, as that could waste your valuable time and energy in the process.

I must admit that the defamatory rumour threw us off balance, being the last thing we had expected after having worked so faithfully and with commitment to lift the standard of our client organisations. That shock made it incredibly difficult for us to remain objective at the time. However, I thank God that after recovering from the stress-related illness that almost took my life, we decided to turn a blind eye to the rumour and focus on rebuilding our consultancy firm. As God may have it, we finally got our vindication and proceeded with our work.

Nehemiah did much better than I. His narrative sets a great example on ignoring rumours and focusing on implementing a project amidst a fiery storm.

When we look at JuaLink on the other hand, it is unfortunate that Faraja did not manage to brush-off Lulu’s gossip. The new publicity manager should have focused on excelling even further especially since ‘being a mother’ was not a determining factor in her performance. By leaving Lulu to gossip until ‘the cows came home’, the publicity officer would have eventually given up after realising that Faraja’s performance was continuing to soar, irrespective of the publicity officer’s verbal poison.

So, avoid being distracted by every piece of gossip that surfaces on the horizon since that may not be worth your while. For instance, if a colleague invents a bad rumour about you just to get a kick out of your pain, should you really lose sleep over it? In fact, sometimes, disregarding the gossip is one way of making a rumour lose its momentum. No wonder the New Living Translation of Isaiah 30:15b reveals how quietness and confidence can be your strength.

Therefore, wherever possible, do not allow negative gossip to distract your attention to the point of hampering your performance or making you fall back on scheduled activities. ‘Keep your eyes on the ball’. Soon you may be too busy to listen to any rumours about ‘you’ (or other people for that matter).