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If you are excelling at work, you may encounter a noticeable change in a coworker's behavior towards you.
These feelings might be down to simple workplace jealousy or a fear that you might surpass their accomplishments at work.
These feelings are deeply rooted in the human condition.
Having a jealous coworker is inevitable – but a jealous coworker could negatively impact your work performance and even derail your career.
Consequently, you need to cultivate skills to help you spot signs that a coworker feels threatened by you.
Once you recognize your coworker feels threatened, you can take steps to address and resolve workplace tensions.
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Is a coworker constantly undermining your work or going out of their way to avoid you?
These might be signs they feel threatened by your skills and achievements.
The first sign that someone is threatened by you is they try to take credit for your work.
The threatened coworker will try to steal credit for team effort and try to come out on top. They may even try to create a competitive environment if your workplace is collaborative.
Here are some ways a threatened coworker might try to take credit for your work:
The threatened coworker might present your ideas as their own.
For instance, they might speak at meetings about ideas without mentioning you or your contributions.
You can address this by documenting your efforts and ideas using emails or other equivalent communication methods.
When a coworker feels threatened by your work, they might try to take over your projects and pass them off as their own.
If this fails, they might try to join projects midway and take credit for your work.
To address this, keep meticulous records of project milestones and constantly update other coworkers and your management or supervisors.
This is a desperate measure but some coworkers might resort to plagiarizing reports and documents.
In this scenario, you must be vigilant and ensure that written reports are signed off in your name. Additionally, use version control systems for documents where possible.
Absences at work are unavoidable and this presents an obvious opportunity for a threatened coworker to take credit for your work.
They might wait for scheduled absences such as vacations to claim your work as theirs.
To protect your work, do the following:
Silent treatment is an obvious sign your coworkers feel threatened. It curtails collaboration and leads to a deterioration in productivity.
Getting over this barrier could be difficult, but you must handle the silent treatment with professionalism and empathy.
Here are some ways to handle the silent treatment from coworkers feeling threatened:
Passive aggressive behavior by a coworker could be difficult to recognize. This phenomenon encompasses a range of behaviors that could degrade an existing working relationship.
When a coworker feels threatened by you, they might avoid looking at you even when speaking directly to you.
It is important to remember that while this is one of the signs your coworker is threatened by you, it could also be a sign of discomfort or insecurity.
They might feel discomfort about the balance of power that exists between you and them or feel insecurity about your accomplishments at work – or their own.
Whatever the reason, it is important to understand this behavior and develop strategies to address it.
Manipulation by a coworker could be one of the worst things to happen to your professional development.
It comes in many ways but the objective of manipulation remains the same: to destroy your work environment and devalue your contributions to the organization.
Microaggressions are difficult to deal with since they are subtle and often unintentional. However, they can be hurtful and demeaning.
Given the subtle nature of microaggressions, they could be difficult to detect and mitigate. Here are some examples of microaggressions:
This is one of the most extreme reactions by a coworker who feels threatened. It is a clear sign that your professional relationship has fallen apart and you need to take action.
It might be frustrating to deal with such a situation, but if your colleagues start excluding you from workplace activity and refuse to participate in your initiatives, it could result in poor work performance and missed targets.
You must first understand their behavior and then develop a strategy to deal with their actions.
Your coworker might refuse to help you to prevent you from overshadowing them or to maintain their control.
Additionally, they might refuse to help due to concerns about job security or reputation.
To address these issues, do the following:
Body language says a lot about a person and for a threatened coworker, it can give you an early warning that all is not well.
By being vigilant, you can identify negative body language and take steps to alleviate their discomfort.
Here are some body language cues that can suggest your coworker feels threatened:
The most immediate example of avoidance behaviors is lack of eye contact, but other behaviors, such as standing or sitting far away from you and turning away when you wish to engage with them may also be present.
A coworker feeling threatened will often interact with you while in a defensive posture.
This includes things like keeping their arms crossed, tense jaws, clenched fists, legs crossed tightly, or hands tucked away from you.
Nervous body language includes excessive sweating, blushing, or fidgeting.
A speech pattern that is too fast or too slow can be a subtle indicator that your coworker is nervous.
Finding out someone spread rumors about you can be alarming. This is a classic sign of a threatened individual.
It can be difficult not to get entangled in workplace gossip. After all, people like receiving and spreading rumors.
You only have to look at the dozens of gossip sites on the internet to understand the huge appetite we have for discussing the lives of others.
While harmless in some other cases, workplace gossip can be quite hurtful – and harmful.
To fight this, you must know why rumors started and how to curtail the spread.
Rumors start because people want and need to be in the know. It is a way for people to feel important. In most cases, a coworker will start a rumor to gain more power.
It makes them feel important to know things other people don't.
To prevent rumors, keep everyone informed on what's happening in the organization. This means who was fired, who is getting a transfer, and every other development that could result in rumors.
When your organization goes through a rough patch, keep all communication channels open. Be transparent and share information even when you are faced with hurdles.
All this will keep rumors from starting or spreading.
If a particularly damaging rumor is spread about you, you may need to talk to your manager or HR for support.
A competitive spirit at work is great and in most cases results in more productivity. But a sudden change to an overly competitive demeanor is a sign that your coworker feels threatened.
They might become more competitive to outshine you or to solidify their position if they think they might lose it.
Increased competition could come in various ways including:
When faced with such a coworker, it is important not to feel threatened. If your coworker is threatened, do not respond in kind. Maintain your professionalism and take the following steps:
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Are you tired of workplace drama and yearning for a positive workplace?
While you cannot control if your coworker feels threatened by you, working with a coach – virtually or in person – will give you valuable tools to navigate the ups and downs of a challenging workplace.
Let Highrise guide you and help you build better work relationships.
Contact us today and start investing in your work happiness!
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