Climb companions, don’t let them make you bitter

A fellow climber is one who tries to advance professionally quickly and without scruples at the expense of one or more third parties. It can be difficult to discover, since we will usually see what he wants us to see, defending the interpretation of his actions that best maintains his disguise. “I did it for you”, “I didn’t realize”, “It’s better this way, you have more work and you will be able to earn more merits”.

It is important not to confuse competition between different workers to obtain a position with a practice that consists of the use of deception, lies and/or manipulation. The purpose of fellow climbers is to project a negative image of third parties and value their own qualities, considering others as competition and/or instruments to achieve their objectives.

And there are coworkers who tend to mean more to each other than to work. We must stay away from them if we do not want to end badly.

We don’t choose our coworkers

Coworkers are not usually chosen. The same thing happens with the biological family, we cannot section it to our liking. We get what we get. If our relationship with coworkers is not good, this will cause us headaches throughout the work day. But, if they also create a bad environment at work, then we have a big problem.

It is best to be prepared so that the relationship with your colleagues does not cause more serious problems.. So, let’s think, what problems could it cause? One of them, which encompasses many others, is work stress.

Work stress

Work stress or stress at work is a type of stress typical of industrialized societies. The increasing pressure in the work environment can cause physical or mental saturation of the worker. Likewise, it will generate various consequences that will not only affect his health, but also that of his immediate environment.

Work stress appears when the worker’s resources are overwhelmed by one or several work factors that he cannot cope with or thinks he cannot cope with (threats). It can manifest itself in various ways. Its symptoms range from irritability to depression, and are usually accompanied by physical and/or mental exhaustion.

According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Work stress is the second most common work-related health problem. The causes are diverse. Among the most frequent, we find: job insecurity, long work hours and feeling intimidated or harassed. And this is where climbing companions come into play.

What are climbing companions like?

Like much of the fauna of our work, climbing companions have special characteristics. The most important ones would be:

He climbs never share valuable information with others: he obtains it and keeps it for himself, unless he can derive a benefit from sharing it.It oozes falsehood from every pore. He has no problem lying, misrepresenting or manipulating.Act subtly using any comment or rumor to harm or discredit someone who you consider an obstacle in your career.Will never value the help or achievement of his colleaguesOn the contrary, it will minimize or discredit them. Their behavior is very different when they interact with their colleagues than when they do so with the company’s superiors. At those moments He will do what is not written in order to gain merit.

Climbers know that they cannot rise on their own merits. Only by sinking and going over others can they achieve it. So never underestimate a climbing companion as they are much more dangerous than typical balls. An essential characteristic of climbing companions is that they only care about the “what.” The “how” is the least important thing for them. They will do whatever is necessary, leaving whatever corpses are necessary in their wake.

To be successful, we need to be prudent and intelligent.. Unless he is very clumsy, his behavior will be very sibylline and we will rarely be able to detect it at first glance. In fact, that is one of its great dangers: its ability to conceal its intention.

Thus, the companions climb can go unnoticed for long periods of time and they can even pose as your best co-workers. In this way, they gain our trust to later use us for their purposes, without taking into account what we think or feel, just as if we were a computer or a stapler.

What can we do about fellow climbers?

Fellow climbers do not act honestly or ethically. However, they can be professionals highly valued by bosses and the company. This gives them wings to continue with their particular carnage.

Thus, when you have detected if one of these “predators” is in your work environment, you can act intelligently to minimize the risks of the battle. Below, we leave you some guidelines that may be useful:

The climbing companions want at all costs to disarm their prey psychologically and to do so – at a certain moment – they may seek confrontation. It is best not to enter into their game of destruction. Smile at them whenever you meet them. This will disorient them and make them feel confused.It is very important not to share information with them. You must avoid socializing at all costs as much as possible and take great care of your comments and, why not, also your material belongings. You never know!Strength lies in allies. Use the rest of your teammates to your advantage, taking advantage of the strength of the group. Inform honest people in your work environment that there is a wolf in sheep’s clothing in the flock. If the climber observes that he is isolated, his strength will decrease and he may even temporarily decide to change his attitude or leave.

As we have seen, climbing companions are toxic people -people with a marked tendency to make statements or carry out behaviors that are harmful to others- in our work environment. You have to try to avoid interacting with them at all costs. If you follow the strategies we have outlined, you have a lot to gain in this particular battle.

You might be interested…