I recently had a founder reach out to me after someone pressured them to share private details about another person’s life. They didn’t want to share the information but didn’t want to create a tense situation.
When a person tries to get you to gossip about others, it can feel awkward to tell them it’s none of their business.
One way of refusing the person’s request for gossip in a non-confrontational way is to say the following:
“I don’t discuss people’s private matters with others. This way, if you ever wish to share something with me that you want kept between us, you know it will be.”
This response firmly rebukes the request without directly calling the person out for an inappropriate ask. It also shows them that you are a trustworthy person.
At the risk of stating the obvious, you should strongly consider whether it’s worth risking sharing any sensitive information with this person going forward. Your personal information might become future gossip for them to spread around.
All texts are my own. No identifying information is shared.
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