Be quick to share information and slow to share opinions about people.

Information and gossip feel similar from the inside, since both are things you know and both make you interesting to listen to. They do very different work, though, because sharing what is happening makes a group calmer and more capable, while sharing your view of a person makes everyone wonder what you say about them. One builds trust and the other spends it.

Be the one who always passes on the useful thing, quickly and to everybody. When a conversation turns to judging somebody absent, say less than you want to. People notice the difference faster than you would expect.