Unhealthy Competition in the Workplace

In my coaching practice, I often see examples of the Seven Deadly Sins-sometimes from the recipient's perspective, and sometimes from that of the perpetrator. I have found that, regardless of the emotional reasons behind these sins, the results are usually the same: If your reaction to office politics shows you to be abrasive, whiny, arrogant, blaming, egotistical, or a gossip, you will be perceived as a difficult employee, and you will probably lose your job, especially during a merger, acquisition, or downsizing. Here is an example of several of the Seven Deadly Sins in action:

Julie was a superstar regional vice president of sales in a Midwestern telecom company. After a round of layoffs, the company rewarded Julie by expanding her sales region, leaving her with fourteen states to cover and she was thrilled.

As the economy improved and business increased, the company decided to add an additional regional VP to the sales staff and peel a few states from Julie's roster.

Ann accepted the new position of regional VP, including relocation from her Oregon home base to Chicago. When she arrived, her new boss assigned Julie to show Ann the ropes, introduce her around, and help make her transition into her new job, new company, and new city as easy as possible.

For Julie, having fewer states to cover meant fewer sales, and fewer sales meant lower commissions. Julie did not support an addition to the sales staff (although she never discussed her opinion with anyone-Sin 4). Julie was also uncomfortable with the threat of a new hotshot, and she became aggressive-even hostile-toward Ann (Sins 5 and 7). Julie eavesdropped on Ann's phone conversations and client meetings by standing near her office door, rifled through her office when she was out, created a wedge between Ann and the shared administrative staff, and even hacked into Ann's computer after hours to see what she was working on and with whom (Sins 1 and 2). Julie wanted Ann out, and she was willing to do whatever it took to make Ann go away.

Julie could have taken control of her reputation and achieved career success by joining forces with Ann, leading to an improved status as both a hotshot and a team player. Instead, she ended up with a 30-day notice to improve, a severely tarnished reputation, and a need to rebuild multiple relationships as well as her personal credibility.