What do you do when you feel envious of others at work?
This post originally appeared on theSandglaz blog.
We’ve all suffered from the green-eyed monster before.
Luckily, envy isn’t a literal monster.
Being envious of others starts when we’re little.
Wish you had as many coloring books as your cousin?
It stays with us as we go through school.
Have you ever wanted to earn grades as high as your best friend’s?
That, too, is envy.
Unfortunately, it also continues in the working world.
How do you feel when your managerpraises another team member?
What if a peer gets lots of responsibility for an upcoming project on which you’re working?
But what about when someone outperforms you and gets a raise?
It’s natural to be envious of a team member’s success.
After all, success is what we all want.
But we feed the green-eyed monster when we begin to resent our team members.
As this negative emotion strengthens, we resist collaboration and fluidcommunication.
This is because we focus on outperforming someone with whom we should be friendly.
This creates an artificially-competitive environment that thrives onunnecessary stress.
That’s why it’s imperative toovercome envy at work.
Luckily, doing so is easy.
But a way to beat itespecially if it’s at work involves swallowing your ego.
How do we do this?
Instead of hiding it, just admit you’re envious.
No, not to anyone.
Tell it to the person who’s the source of your envy.
After all, they succeeded as you fell short.
And that’s it.
You’ve acknowledged your envy and probably feel little happy for the person you congratulated.
Just be sure to deliver your confession in a friendly manner.
Don’t burst into tears or grow red with rage.
Your team member won’t feel positive about their success.
Instead, there’ll only be negative feelings between you.
Friendly honesty also has long-term benefits.
It’s no secret that team members reward and remember each other’s honesty.
This is probably a surprise, as many workplaces swiftly deal with deceptive actions to encourage model behavior.
But your colleagues won’t soon forget your honest actions.
This is especially true for teams that seldomopenly communicate, making honest conversations more appreciated.
It may sound selfish, but yourhonesty will thus result in a rewardor two.
Team members will be more willing to help and collaborate.
The quality of your work will increase as a result.
This is why you should turn jealousy into an honest discussion.
Admit how you feel in a friendly, congratulatory way to make good things happen.
Make High-Achievers Your Mentors
Leaders have a variety of responsibilities.
Above all, they need to inspire their teams tofreely collaborateand encourage productivity to yield impressive results.
This is why leaders must take action at the first sight of envy at work.
Highly results-oriented people are two-sided coins for your team.
The first side allows your business to prosper.
They finish all of their many tasks to the highest standard of quality.
Their success can be a constant point of envy for many other team members.
Giving such people mentorship positions addresses the second, less favorable, side of this coin.
It’s plausible she’s envied, yet respected.
Don’t hesitate to make her a mentor.
This doesn’t entail a promotion or even a formal announcement.
Simply encourage her to assist her peers, whetherthey’re newor experienced.
This fosters teamwork and friendly communication.
People will no longer see the new mentor as a source of envy.
Instead, she’ll be a source of knowledge and experience.
As a bonus, she’ll impart good habits across her team.
It’s a win-win situation: less envy, more capable team members.
Stop it from ever developing.
It’s based on how you carry yourself.
It’s easier said than done, though.
Extroverts,who might openly talk about success and qualifications, can dominate many workplaces.
It’s no wonder why your team members may feel the need to boast when an opportunity presents itself.
But this only feeds the green-eyed monster that lives in many offices.
This is also why finding anintroverted leadercan be challenging.
Yet showing some modesty stops people from being envious toward you, making you a better team member.
Sure, a little bit of gloating may seem deserved.
But stick to simply saying, “Thanks.
I appreciate it.”
This also relates to your talents, knowledge and education.
If a team member brings up your impressive qualifications, take the compliment and politely change the subject.
But why must we avoid openly discussing our greatest assets, which undoubtedly help our self-esteems stay strong?
Modesty acts as a natural defense against other people’s envy, according to Bedeian.
Who knows, maybe a teammate wanted a leadership role in a project you were assigned.
Maybe another couldn’t finish an educational program you aced.
Remember, people may keep envying you no matter how modest you are.
But they’ll find it hard to envy you to the point of resentment.
That’s the kind of envy that destroys your workplace.
Luckily, you might easily avoid it by staying modest, congratulating others and making high-achievers mentors.
Image byDooder(Shuttestock).
Additional photos byJoshua Smith,Brad.k,Al Abut(Flickr).
