by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: June 18, 2010

When you first start to build a career you’re really spurred on whenever you receive a pat on the back for managing to accomplish something that even you had doubts you could do. You may have won a court case, signed up a new client, made a substantial sale, got a disruptive student to listen or even something slightly less impressive. Whatever it was, though, when you’re get to make a name for yourself everyone tells you how amazing you are, although secretly they may be worrying about just how good you are, which is why praise may be less forthcoming in future.

Obviously, when you’re starting out nobody knows just how capable you are and so you’re desperate to prove yourself. You have a certain amount of self-belief, but until you’ve shown to everyone else that you’re not stupid and that you do actually have some ability you feel that you’re not really accepted as a member of the team. You don’t want to make any mistakes, as you want to make a good impression and often your colleagues will give you some leeway in the beginning, anyway, since you’re the new kid on the block and have yet to find your feet.

Once you start to have success in your career, however, there will be colleagues who are less tolerant of you and who will pick you up on any small slip-ups or inconsistencies in your work, simply because they are jealous of you. Most of your colleagues will continue to treat you with respect, as long as you have earned that respect and haven’t just been promoted due to continually taking credit for their ideas or relying on the fact you know the right people.

However, there will always be some who cannot stand the fact you have achieved success in your career, especially if you’re relatively young and inexperienced. These are the kind of people who will talk behind your back and try to undermine your authority. They may resist your attempts to introduce change and will generally make your life more difficult. This may seem rather childish behaviour, but there are some people who are immature and whose sole enjoyment comes out of annoying you.

You shouldn’t let other people’s jealousy of your career success get in the way of all the things you hope to accomplish, as otherwise they win. You have to be focused on what you want to achieve and concentrate on doing your job as well as you can without rubbing up people the wrong way. It’s important to remember that you won’t be able to keep everyone happy, though, and so your career should be your main focus.

Learn more about this author, Michelle Wilkinson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.