Dorothy Parker, the satirist, is famous for saying, “If you have nothing good to say about someone, sit next to me.”

Someone like Parker is likely employed at your organization. These are the folks who live for the scraps of information – negative or positive – that are traded day in and day out in most workplaces.

Office gossip and the office grapevine are as old as the workplace and as difficult to manage as the people and processes in them.

People can rarely resist “spilling the beans” when they hear a juicy tidbit of information, whether it’s about work or a colleague.

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As a leader, you want to be a straight-talker. No sugarcoating, exaggerating or minimizing. But there’s a fine line between straight talk and a toxic tone.

Some seemingly innocent phrases can have a negative impact on everything from morale and productivity to the bottom line.

So, you want to avoid phrases and mindsets – like these seven – that can pollute a positive work environment.

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Ever feel like employees just don’t listen to you?

Well, you aren’t alone – for two reasons.

There are a lot of managers feel the same way you do.

The second reason? Many employees actually don’t listen.

And it comes at a big cost: Studies say companies lose more than $25,000 per employee each year because poor communication hurts productivity.

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You might have a great team already.

But inevitably, you will have a few model citizens or “rock star” employees that stand out. You wish all your team members would be like them because that would make your life as a manager so much easier.

You know you can depend on your best employees. They consistently deliver great results and at times are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty.

But the results of comparing employees to each other can be disastrous.

Here’s why you shouldn’t play the comparison game.

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