Team players and ego freaks.

[asher553]

Sometimes you get the guy who's the rock star performer in the workplace, but he likes to hog the spotlight at the expense of the rest of the team. That's another example of the mentality of "others must fail so that I can succeed."

In the Marines we had it drilled into us from boot camp on: "Keep your buddy locked on!" You don't gain anything from the other guy messing up. Often just the opposite: collective punishment is still seen as a perfectly valid discipline tool in the military! One guy fails a barracks inspection or a rifle inspection, the whole unit has to stay late. It's a strong incentive to help the other guy stay locked on. And that's as it should be - on the battlefield, one guy screwing up could get everybody killed. In the military, you really are your brother's keeper.

Same in the workplace, if somebody's a great performer as an individual, but they feel like they have to undermine their co-workers, or if they just bring a lot of drama and dissension to the workplace, then it's going to impact the operation negatively.

If you want to grow personally and professionally, my guess is that the thing to do is seek out a workplace where people keep each other locked on - where you're going to be surrounded by competent people who will push you harder, demand more of you, and challenge you more.

Comments

[andrewducker]

Totally agree. I gain nothing from other people not learning and improving. I _want_ to be surrounded by competence.

[asher553]

It's one of those things that you don't notice until you've had the opportunity to experience the extremes of where it's present and where it's not. I'm fortunate that my current job is an example of this kind of environment.

[cellio]

Yes. One more thing they'll do (and I assume you did in the military) is: offer you a hand when you're struggling. Yes, push your coworkers to do better, but when you see someone struggling, know that it affects everybody and sometimes you have to do a little extra to help out. Don't enable bad behavior, but help people through difficult times. We all have them.

[asher553]

Exactly! It's that fine line of being supportive but still challenging one another.