Simplifying Relationships: Competition as a Cause of Dislike

What we have often seen is in a company in which, let’s say, 150 people work, then no one from those 150 people will have any problem with the office boy. When it is teatime, the office boy puts a cup of tea on everyone’s table and after everyone has finished their tea, he picks them up again. Neither the team member, the team leader, the project manager, nor the CEO has any problem with the office boy; rather, the person will remain on good terms. The reason behind these good terms has nothing to do with the office boy’s working abilities; it is simply because everyone knows that he will never be a threat to their position in the organization. That’s why everyone will treat him well!

But, if we observe what team leaders and project managers say about other team leaders and project managers behind their backs, how they behave with each other, what happens during the face-to-face conversations and what goes on in their minds, then we might be able to know the team leaders and project managers dislike each other. What is the reason for that? It is because the team leaders know that there is only one position between their jobs and the project manager’s job. Then, project managers become their competition. If a team leader is really better at their job, then they are likely to face the dislike of other team leaders because they become a competition to others.

You are, therefore, encouraged to think that if suddenly someone changes their behavior towards you and starts showing their dislike towards you, then that behavior might have nothing to do with your flaws. Rather, it could just be because you are getting better at something, you are getting better than what you were before and you might have become a competition to that person!