Ever had a colleague say something like…

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵.”

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴.”

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”

 

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀! You’ve just witnessed “𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴”—one of the sneakiest (and most damaging) communication habits in the workplace.

 

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴?

Mind reading happens when we 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. It’s a fast track to misunderstandings, resentment, and unnecessary stress.

 

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

• Kills collaboration (“Why bother asking? They’ll just say no.”)

• Creates unnecessary conflict (“She ignored my email because she’s mad at me.”)

• Wastes mental energy (Overanalyzing instead of clarifying)

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗜𝘁: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟯-𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲

Next time you catch yourself (or someone else) mind-reading, ask one of these simple questions:

“How do you know that?”

“What specifically makes you think so?”

“Can I check—what’s your take on this?”

𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿

“The client didn’t reply—they must hate our proposal.”

“The client didn’t reply yet. Should we follow up or adjust our approach?”

See the difference? One fuels anxiety. The other fuels 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗧𝗶𝗽: 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆

Instead of guessing, get comfortable asking:

• “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯?”

• “𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦?”

It’s not mind reading—it’s 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻!

What’s a classic “mind reading” moment you’ve seen at work? Share below!