Are You Damaging Your Career? What Not to Discuss with Co-Workers

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." That may have been true years ago (I doubt it), but in the 21st century, that children's rhyme needs to be tossed into the nearest recycle bin. Words can't be taken back once they've been released, and they can wound for years after the fact. What's worse, the words you speak or write in jest or innocence can come back to haunt you. This is especially true in the business world, where a wrong move can cost you a promotion, a raise, or even your job. To make sure your mouth doesn't trip up your career advancement, consider avoiding these topics with fellow employees.

Salary information. Most companies have a policy that this is considered private information between the company and you. This means discussing your salary with a co-worker is a violation of company policy. Even if it's not an official policy, it's nobody else's business at work what you make.

Personal life issues. There's no reason to discuss your grocery list of daily medications, your ex's multiple run-ins with the law, or your impending divorce, wedding, or family-making plans with your cubicle-mate. Anything that looks like it might interfere with your ability to do your job can have a negative influence on a company's view of you. And never, never, NEVER share intimate details of your life with someone at work. You never know when blackmail can rear its ugly head, or a comment shared innocently can be viewed as a come-on, ending in harrassment charges. Definitely bad for the career-oriented employee.

Politics and religion. These two highly-charged topics can put you at odds with somebody when you least expect it. You never know when your off-the-cuff remark about a political candidate or a religious group will directly affect the person you're talking to, or the one who overhears it.

Complaints about the work environment. Whether it's being critical about a co-worker, a company policy, a project, or a job duty, take it up through the official chain of command. Anything your supervisor hears you saying through the grapevine undermines your professionalism.

Your MySpace, FaceBook, or other social networking profile. You want to take advantage of these popular Web sites? Fine. Just keep things professional and socially neutral. Using your personal Web space to share your views of the idiocy in any segment of today's world is pretty much guaranteeing that information will get back to your superiors either directly or through a co-worker.

Off-color, racist, or other offensive jokes/comments. Assume your project work group won't be offended by what you're about to relate, and more often than not you'll discover that you assumed wrong. It only takes one joke or ill-timed comment to ruin a career. Even if you guess right, someone else could overhear. It's not worth it.

We can't always be "on" 24-7, and we're all human and make mistakes. Mistakes, however, are to be learned from, not repeated. And it's easier to learn from someone else's mistakes than your own, and definitely less costly. Just think "professional" when you're in the workplace and you'll find you can eliminate a lot of these potential career-damaging moves before they can make your life miserable.