I have been so lucky to work with some truly extraordinary talented people in my career and for really terrific brands. I was lucky enough to be part of the C-suite early in my career, despite being a woman, and worked alongside some very mighty men who taught me some great life lessons and encouraged and supported me as a valuable contributor to the team. Among the many things I’ve learned in my career is that there are always self-promoters who have no qualms about throwing their colleagues under the bus for their own benefit. Years ago one of my colleagues shared this expression: You don’t get taller by stepping on other people. I fell in love with it as it truly represents my views on how we should treat each other in and out of work and I live by it.
What makes working with these immoral souls so challenging is they often don’t reveal themselves until it’s too late. I’ve had a few of these bad experiences over the course of my career and I’ve learned that patience prevails. They may win that day, but eventually, bad behavior is a pattern and there are often multiple victims until the leadership recognizes the bad apple. The key is not to try to “match” them or descend to their level. At the same time, it’s so so hard not to react when you realize you’ve been a victim of their tactics to undermine your credibility and success.
Whether it’s an outside consultant trying to make a name for herself and ingratiate herself with your CEO, or an internal over-zealous colleague who suffers from lack of recognition, these villains can do a lot of damage to people and companies until they’re uncovered for who they are.
I have never been good at dealing with these people. They are like schoolyard bullies but often more sly and thus invisible until their actions become public. They tend to have lovely smiles on their faces while they’re stabbing you in the back. They are very calculating and push boundaries inch by inch until one day they’ve actually succeeded in pushing a colleague out or hijacking a piece of another person’s area of responsibility. I’ve been lucky enough to work for some really smart CEO’s who see this behavior and cut it off quickly. But others are blinded by the false smile, fake “teamwork” talk track and opportunistic self-promotion. I am currently experiencing this in my workplace and it’s so disappointing. The only good news is this trio of players, an outside consultant and two of my colleagues, have made their intentions so clear that I at least am aware of their true motivations. Whether or not I can steer clear of being a victim of their bad behavior remains to be seen. Navigating among sharks is so exhausting and such a waste of time, but that’s what I am doing right now. Such a shame to be distracted from doing good work and instead playing defense for my reputation, turf and team. These are the days that I long for those past CEO’s who shut these people down before they ever had any momentum. Wish me luck in navigating the shark-infested waters!! What I do know is that good work always triumphs and I have confidence in myself and my team to shine on!
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