Don’t Let Healthy Rivalry Deteriorate into Hostility
You must have heard that Jennifer Lawrence won a Golden Globe award for her movie Joy. She won defeating her close friend Amy Schumer, who was also nominated in the same category. However, despite this there were no cat fights, bad mouthing or any other negative behaviour. This is what healthy rivalry is. You compete and strive to be the best but don’t let it spoil your relationship with your colleagues. In fact, even when the nominations were announced, neither Jennifer Lawrence nor Amy Schumer gave each other the cold shoulder but were in fact supportive of each other.
Healthy rivalry in the workplace is important. Actress Christina Lahti said – “Competition is very good as long as it is healthy. It’s what makes one strive to be better.” Such kind of competition motivates you to perform better and achieve higher. However, it is crucial that it remains positive and does not take a turn for the worse. It is totally normal to feel bad and even jealous when someone else performs better than you and gets the accolades. There is nothing wrong with such kind of feelings. In fact, it would be abnormal if you didn’t feel like this. But you should not let these feelings get to you and sour your behaviour towards that person.
What you need to do is take some time to feel bad and console yourself. Maybe even drown your sorrows in a glass of drink. But after this, you need to come out fresh and with new enthusiasm. Congratulate your colleague and try to participate in his/her happiness. No one is asking you to be all out ecstatic. Just be friendly and encouraging. Concentrate on your work and let the competition make you a better performer. There is no need for snide remarks and back stabbing. You aren’t in high school anymore. Behave like the mature career driven person that you are. By becoming hostile, it will only harm you. Your mind will always be distracted thinking about the various ways to put down that person, instead of having a healthy camaraderie, encouraging and helping each other.
Always remember what Celine Dion said – “I am not in competition with anybody but myself. My goal is to beat my last performance.” This should be your mindset. Have a healthy rivalry with your colleagues but hardcore competition with no one but yourself. You will succeed when you become the best version of yourself.
