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Tattletale

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Gossip can be entertaining. It's not a good thing to be caught doing, especially in the office, but generally those whispers and murmurings are discretely passed from one person to another until the underlying message at the end is just a distorted version of the original rumor. While office gossip is fairly non-threatening and doesn't result in much damage except for perhaps a bruised ego or a slightly damaged reputation, an office tattle-tale can ruin your career.

In most instances, an office gossip is known to be precisely that. He talks a lot. He seems to know private details of many lives, even those co-workers he doesn't associate with. Most business professionals are intelligent enough to eventually figure out that this guy basically just likes to stir the pot. Eventually his credibility will be questioned and should (in the rare event) one of his rumors result in a reprimand, the accused will find it fairly easy to discredit the busybody.

A tattle-tale however will not be immediately recognized for who she is by anyone other than the supervisor she keeps running to with her treason. Until that supervisor becomes clued in to this behavior, which may take a while since the supervisor will at first be grateful for the knowledge being relayed, no one will ever be the wiser. She operates like a ninja: stealthy, quiet, observant, and discreet. She will be very amiable and likable.

The truth is she wants to be liked. This is perhaps the very reason she engages in this behavior. It will boost her esteem and help her to develop appreciation from her supervisor that she in all likelihood could not earn on recognition of her abilities alone. By being covert she is able to maintain her favor with the supervisor and maintain her quasi-friendship with you. Every accusation she launches at you makes her feel more confident in her standing within the company.

Office tattle-tales are motivated by the need to feel needed and appreciated. Hence the preening and self-satisfaction when her boss (out of obligation) thanks her for the information. The supervisor is also obliged to research the matter. This further satisfies her malicious nature. You are viewed with mistrust and suspicion and she is treated as a trusted aid. This feeds her thirsting ego.

She will become eerily still during your phone conversations in any attempt to overhear yet another juicy tidbit to carry over to your supervisor. She will be the person who digs through your desk and checks your e-mail. She is perhaps the vilest of all co-worker types.

Office gossips engage in gossip because it is habitual, but an office tattle-tale is a malicious little being full of evil intent.

Learn more about this author, Sonia Ordoyne.
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