We’re all trying to get ahead in life. Every day is met with opportunities and challenges, and it’s up to you to make the right decision to move head. Most often, we will feel the struggle to boost success while we’re at work, especially of there is competition for a promotion or increased responsibilities.
While no one will readily admit it, we don’t always want to put in work to get ahead. Rather, we try to bring down our competition, in this case our coworkers, to create the illusion we have progressed. If you do this, you are diverting your attention away from real progress and focusing on reducing overall progress at your workplace. I’ll be honest, if you are stealthy you might be able to appear better than your coworkers by doing this, but the increased frustrations and animosity won’t be worthwhile in the long run.
What does this look in real life? It could be a supervisor who micromanages his employees so he identifies every error before an employee has the chance to rectify the situation without supervision. It could be a coworker who goes into a meeting and comments on every topic, fighting to get the last word. Or it could be your office neighbor who nitpicks everything you do to make sure no error goes unnoticed.
These people, annoying as they may be, are just looking to advance. It’s likely not a personal attack, it’s just a reflection of their frustrations because you’re a barrier to their advancement.
If you want to get positive recognition and earn respect from your colleagues, focus on boosting your qualifications and your value within the company. Make yourself look bigger, don’t try to make others look smaller.
To do this, identify where there’s room for growth in your company. Maybe there’s a procedure that needs to be revised or a project needing to be edited. If your team is growing or looking to fill a position, offer to help in the hiring of new candidates. Dedicate your time to expanding you skills and boosting office productivity rather than focusing on the negatives.
Further, you can lend a hand and help out other employees. If a newer employee needs so more training, offer to shadow him and bring him up to speed. Maybe your colleague has a big project and needs help completing other responsibility, lend a hand so no department in the company falls behind. In these cases, your efforts will be recognized through the success of others and you will be respected by those you’ve helped.
Personal growth is critical and you will never regret channeling your efforts into improvement. If you feel someone in your office could benefit from assistance, offer to help, but don’t spend your time pointing out flaws if you’re not committed to improving them. When you’re looking to be considered for future opportunities, make the best of your current opportunities and find new opportunities in your current situations. This will set you apart from your coworkers and you will get recognized for the right reasons while gaining respect.
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