Q & A Table of Contents
She's Tries To Sabotage Her Workplace Colleagues
From: Linda, Vancouver, Washington
Question: I have a co-worker who holds out on key information so she can be the shining star when it comes to resolving issues. The Knowledge is Power person.
She doesn't inform key people of meetings, meeting outcomes, or goals. This keeps everyone having to come to her for help and advice.
Recently I received my long anticipated, and well earned promotion. She was furious. She placed a call to our corporate HR person, demanded the specifics of the job description and then proceeded to demand an interview for herself. Needless to say this has caused quite a bit of disharmony and confusion.
How do I get this straightened out? While I appreciate competition in the workplace, I cannot tolerate sabotage. How can I get this behavior brought to the attention of the right people? This is not the first time she has gone after someone else's opportunity. Help? Thank you!
Response: Your final paragraph looks towards how to reach the desired end state of the current situation. Figuring out who the 'right people' are is certainly the first step you should take if there are, indeed, 'right people' who can bring about improvement. However, before you get the information to the 'right people' you need to determine what your interests are and how they can be reached.
Your 'saboteur' co-worker sounds as if she is extremely lacking in self-confidence, even to the point of paranoia. One question is whether she performs functions on the job that are necessary to accomplish the goals of your company -- or your section of the company. If you find that enough other colleagues are prepared to marginalize her, to keep her out of the loop in every possible situation, the question is whether your work output will suffer at all. Should the output be just as good without her, you can demonstrate her irrelevance and get on with fulfilling your job obligations.
Withholding information is dangerous for the company; if any worker holds back crucial information and suffers a sudden health problem or accident, that can mean the company's work objectives cannot be achieved. One of the benefits of teamwork -- and collaborative negotiation -- is that there is always back-up if one of the team members is not available at a crucial time.
If your number one goal is to have less stress in the workplace, you should examine all the choices you can make. These range from sabotaging the saboteur to developing allies who can work successfully together without her to quitting your existing job and taking one where there is less likelihood of stress from paranoid colleagues. On the assumption that you are committed to doing a good job, that the work itself is rewarding, you need to consider how you can focus on what satisfies you -- and your superiors and other colleagues.
Your unfriendly co-worker appears to fear that anyone else's success means she is a failure. It may well be that her analysis is wrong and that, with effort, it is possible to convince her to get her mind right (as Paul Newman's character says in 'Cool Hand Luke'). If other folks on the job succeed by working together and get rewarded for their cooperation with each other, that may provide positive reinforcement of the idea that collaboration is more rewarding than seeking self-aggrandizement.
Look for allies among your peers and the higher-ups. Question whether changing the way work is done or decisions are made will get you better results in terms of the 'saboteur'. Think of the 'saboteur' as a person who is crying for help -- and look for ways to get it provided. Remember the old saw, "Time wounds all heels," look at the long-term and don't let short-term aggravation get you down. Use out-of-the-box thinking to find more satisfactory ways to get the jobs done.
Good luck,
Steve
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