05.07.08 The 6th Organisational Consequence of Negative Gossip : Infection and Addiction

Infection and Addiction

To be honest, it was hard to imagine how the defamatory rumour about us could spread amongst our clients almost like wildfire. We were alarmed to get rejections from some heads as it became increasingly obvious that they had been infected by that gossip. Fortunately, the rumour dissipated when the truth surfaced after a few but tough years.

In the sixth chapter of Nehemiah, and as already discussed in other places, you may remember how Sanballat and Tobiah infected Shemaiah and other prophets with negative gossip. The seers were so addicted that they threw their fear of God out of the window by receiving a bribe to entice Nehemiah to flee to the temple, lying that assassins had been sent to kill him. As if that lie was not enough, the prophets were so contaminated by the gossip that they continued to intimidate Nehemiah for some time. As already mentioned, Shemaiah got thoroughly addicted to giving false prophecies to the extent that God became grossly displeased and decided to punish him and his family (Jeremiah 29:30-32)

Therefore, if left unchecked, negative gossip can easily infect members of an entity irrespective of their position. When an organisation recruits a negative gossiper, for example, the person can go ‘mentoring’ peers in the vice. This can be accentuated if that gossipmonger is allowed to have a platform which she or he can ‘politically’ use to influence others. The same could happen should an initially ‘non-gossiping’ employee join a gossip-infested team, department, directorate or even an organisation. Within a short while, the unsuspecting ‘new recruit’ can get addicted to gossip and, before long, the newcomer could start craving to be fed with the latest on the grapevine. That is how ‘negative gossip’ can become the modus operandi in the workplace.

At JuaLink for instance, Lulu and Obed were instrumental in getting peers infected with and addicted to negative gossip, as both officers were influential. To begin with, Lulu, being the sister of the managing director, commanded a certain ‘social power and authority’ over team members. That clout was heightened by the fact that she was the leader of the lunch hour fellowship. On the other hand, Obed’s influence was based on his being the brother of Yubu, the board chairman. Those positions made it so easy for Lulu and Obed to pull crowds thence infecting teammates with the vice. Therefore, with such an influence coupled with a wide and ever-growing network of negative gossipers; rumours such as the one on downsizing would circulate throughout the workforce in a split second. In other words, it was through infection and addiction that JuaLink became a ‘gossip-contaminated’ Agency.