Dealing With Jealousy At Work

Dealing With Jealousy At Work

May 13th, 2011 // 12:10 pm @ admin

The above video is a funny illustration on how workplace jealousy can play out.  It reminds me of a Woody Allen quote that I once heard, “People don’t hate you for your weaknesses, they hate you for your strengths.”

No matter how nice or polite an overachiever is they will at some point have jealous colleagues.  The jealousy can be rooted in the idea that he or she is making more money, moving up the ladder a little faster than their peers, or took a job that no one else was qualified for.  No matter where the jealousy is rooted from it makes for a very difficult and uncomfortable work environment.

Here are a few tips to deal with jealous colleagues.

Examine Yourself First

Ask yourself two questions.

• What role do you play in making your coworkers jealous?
• Have you done anything to magnify your colleague’s level of jealousy?

Many times we can easily be the one who is responsible for having jealous coworkers by bragging about a promotion, taking credit for their work, or not being helpful to other colleagues who may have the same role that we overachieve at.  If you’re not sure whether you are responsible or not, seek the feedback of a trusted friend at your job.

Be a Team Player

Begin to proactively seek ways to do work that is helpful to your entire team and makes them look good.  Doing this will help you to change your perceived image from being helpful to yourself to being helpful to the team.  Other people will celebrate your success as it is also making them successful.  Jim Rohn said it best in the following quote:

“If you help others to achieve their goals you will achieve you own by default”

Make Friends in High Places

Actively seek to befriend the politically powerful and more experienced colleagues within your organization.   They can serve as a resource on useful ways to counteract jealously in the workplace.  They have probably seen this before and can advise you on how to deal with the situation to your advantage.

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