As a practitioner of THE POWER OF NICE, chances are you have no shortage of allies around the office. Because you are an expert at NICE skills like making small talk, listening to others, being honest, and sharing the credit, it’s likely that your coworkers consider you a trusted friend. They probably even confide in you about their problems with other coworkers, and those coworkers might confide in you, too. Sound familiar?

If you’ve ever been in this sticky situation, you know how uncomfortable it can be to get caught in the middle of two coworkers who just can’t get along. But, clearly, you don’t want to get dragged into their office drama. Not only would it be bad for your working relationships, it could damage the NICE reputation you’ve worked hard to build. And as we like to say, negative impressions are like germs. It doesn’t take long before one can spread and infect a whole group of people.

So, what’s a NICE person to do?

Tell the truth. Honesty is one of the cornerstones of NICE. So, don’t be afraid to be candid (not blunt) with your coworker. If you don’t want to be part of a conversation that involves personally attacking someone else, simply explain in a gentle but firm way that you are uncomfortable with the subject of the conversation, but that you still care about his or her feelings.

Make it a solution-oriented conversation. When your work friend comes to you bashing another office mate, simply ask, “What are you going to do about it?” Since many times people just want to complain, this will stop them in their tracks. Even better, it just might change their mindset and motivate them to repair a relationship that was broken.