If you're good at your job, and if you're ambitious,
you may find yourself rising much faster than the other employees in your
office. The time may come when you'll still be called an assistant but
your boss will be giving you considerably more power, responsibility,
and pay than the other employees of your rank. If you're not careful,
this can lead to jealousy and conflict. How do you grow in your job without
alienating your colleagues?
The one overarching rule is, Don't act like a big shot when people
can see you. It’s okay to congratulate yourself in private, and to
remind yourself of how good you are, but keep it to yourself. Here are
some specific examples of behavior to be avoided:
Telling your peers how to do their jobs. Many ambitious
people make the mistake of trying to impress their bosses by criticizing
a peer in their boss’s hearing. There’s probably nothing more maddening
to the person being criticized, and it'll make your boss think you're
a weasel -- guaranteed!
Acting as though you are the highest-ranking assistant in the office
or as though you have a title you don't have. Examples of this
would be ordering other assistants about whenever a visitor is in the
office, or giving that visitor information that should have come from
some other assistant. A simple rule: Never do or say anything that would
cause someone to ask, "Who died and made you president?"
Cutting your peers socially. Sure, it’s a big feather in your cap
if higher ranking people want you to be part of their circle, but this
mustn't make you think you're too good to socialize with your peers. Admittedly,
it’s difficult to strike a balance. In many workplaces, social classes
are very sharply defined on the basis of salary and/or title, and if you
have lunch with the "executive" class now and then, other assistants might
resent you for "getting above yourself." That can't always be helped,
but do try to spread yourself around socially.
Volunteering information about your increased authority, salary, or
impending promotion. If the other assistants wonder why you
didn't tell them you were being made an account executive before the promotion
was announced, you can say, "I didn't want to tell you because it wasn't
final, and I didn't want to jinx myself."
Putting on a "go-getter" act in public. Request greater responsibilities
in private, and be as low key as possible when you're accepting assignments
that are clearly more challenging than what your peers are working on.
Invading other people’s territory. You might occasionally
get an assignment that requires you to do something that is ordinarily
another assistant’s job. If it looks like you might make that assistant
look bad by taking work away from her, try to get your boss to give her
something else to make up for it.
Dealing badly with envious colleagues. It’s possible that
some of your co-workers will envy your raise and will take it out on you
with sarcasm and put-downs. The best way to put an end to this is by "heaping
coals of fire on their heads" -- by taking every opportunity to help them
get ahead, too.
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