It Pays to Be Extremely Cautious

On the Inc.com website, Eliza Browning, vice president of Crane Digital, recently wrote “Business Etiquette: 5 Rules That Matter Now.” I was particularly struck by number 3, “Observe the 'Elevator Rule,'” in which she wrote:

When meeting with clients or potential business partners off-site, don't discuss your impressions of the meeting with your colleagues until the elevator has reached the bottom floor and you're walking out of the building. That's true even if you're the only ones in the elevator.

Call it superstitious or call it polite—but either way, don't risk damaging your reputation by rehashing the conversation as soon as you walk away.

She makes a very good point, but she could have taken it even further. It pays to be extremely cautious. It pays to assume people are listening. It pays to believe that walls are thin. It pays to treat all of your gossip and criticisms as highly classified material. And here’s why...

An editor put a sticky tag on a manuscript and wrote, “This guy is a jerk,” not realizing that he was pressing hard enough to leave an imprint of his words on the manuscript itself. The author noticed.

And here’s why: After finishing a conference call on speakerphone with a client, an account manager hung up and called the client a, well, something not very nice. But the phone connection hadn’t actually disconnected, and the client heard what the account manager said. 

And here’s why: Two old friends from Boston bumped into each other in the airport in Belize. If one had been gossiping about the other, she might have been overheard.

Browning says about being discreet, “call it superstitious or call it polite,” but there’s another thing to call it: smart.

Do you have any stories about people hearing what they shouldn’t? How did things work out? Do you have any other warnings about workplace discretion?

--by Wendy Caster

Wendy Caster is a writer specializing in finances, health and wellness, and organizational management. She doesn’t always manage to be discreet, but she’s working on it.