How to Keep Double-Talk From Damaging Your Career

In the business world, double-talk looks like excuse making and blame shifting. It often involves the deliberate use of ambiguous, vague or confusing language that is spoken or written in an earnest, sincere or meaningful tone. Yet, when you reflect on what you have just read or heard, you realize it is a mixture of sense and nonsense, drivel, rubbish, and just bunk! When someone uses double-talk, we are left with a bad taste in our mouths. So, how do we get rid of this career-damaging item? Consider these 5 steps.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Will Power
• Accountability for your mistakes
• Bias for positive action

1. Don't do it! Say what you mean and mean what you say. Catch yourself when you are about to engage in double-talk.

2. Understand that to continue to use double-talk will negatively impact your character, integrity and reputation in the end.

3. When you hear double-talk, try to discover motives, hidden agendas, intentions and reasons by listening with an objective filter.

4. Hold yourself accountable for your own mistakes and failures instead of making excuses and blaming others.

5. 
    
   Bosses & Orchards

   Request that co-workers and bosses refrain from using double-talk when communicating with you. Do this in a loving but firm manner.

Tips & Warnings

• Use the resources below to keep double-talk from damaging your career.

Resources

• Keep Double-Talk From Harming Your Career

[Elizabethknows]

on 6/15/2008 sounds like gossip to me great article on how to stay away from it. :)

[Tippy]

on 6/13/2008 All good ideas. The best we can do - is to control ourselves and not take part when double-talk occurs. But, dang, sometimes it's really hard.

[Limowreck]

on 6/12/2008 Great advice. Keep these articles coming.