Working World

Does your family like to mix it up over dinner, talking politics or debating churches? Mine does. Usually it’s great fun, and no one harbors hurt feelings. The kids ignore the yard signs and bumper stickers and, since they often don’t agree, bear up well. It’s all part of the push and pull of family life.

Still, think twice before you allow it to be part of the push and pull at work. The rules of never talking politics, religion or sex really do still apply here, and with good reason.

Your employer can’t pressure you to support or donate to a particular candidate. Nor can a supervisor single out one person to limit speech.

But employees have an obligation, too. Political discussion complicates what needs to be personality-free in the workplace: communications and evaluations. It can also cut into time owed to your employer, because everyone wants the last word, which never seems to come.

It’s too easy to cross the line and find yourself in a confrontation you didn’t anticipate or in an argument that will linger long after your favorite proposition loses. Talking up your candidate can alienate customers and upset coworkers permanently.

Many people care passionately about these issues, and even if they are meek and mild and never say a word, resentment builds. It’s not a matter of free speech, but judicious speech. Save the slogans for friends, your family or the carpool.

“The whole secret of a successful life is to discover your destiny, and then do it.”
—Henry Ford

“You will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need.” —Jerry Gilles