Sometimes it feels that there is no honest way for someone to reach the top of their career. The people at the top might have had to compromise their morals, walk over someone else’s head or know people to get there.
Even this woman on Reddit who is a hard-working employee, a friendly coworker and a good leader couldn’t have been in her position without a little bit of malicious compliance. Granted, she was forced into it because the other person was purposefully using dirty methods to get his way.
More info: Reddit
Woman was upset her coworker would steal a promotion from her and he continued to make her look bad but screwed himself over in the process
Image credits: University of Essex . (not the actual image)
The story begins when the Original Poster (OP) graduated from high school. She got her first job right after that and even though it was an entry level position involving simple data entry, the woman took it seriously, so it didn’t take long until she started climbing her career ladder.
She quickly became a supervisor for one of the teams in the department. She got along with the other supervisor well and you could say they both built up the department. The company acknowledged how successful the department was and their manager was soon promoted.
This woman got a job right after high school and was going up pretty fast until she ended up a team supervisor
Image credits: u/tippytoemaster
The new manager was an outside person, so it was OP’s job to train him and familiarize him with the work that they did as the other team supervisor went on maternity leave and the new one was an inside person from the team.
Despite being a really nice man, the new manager didn’t last long; however, before he left, he was going to recommend the OP to fill in his position. Unexpectedly, the director chose the other team supervisor, Trevor, to become the new manager. Apparently, while the OP was working, training people and recruiting new employees, Trevor was making friends with the director.
When Bored Panda contacted the Redditor, she told us that she never hated Trevor and although she was heartbroken to not get this position, she didn't feel hatred towards her colleague, "I was never mad at him for being considered for the position. He played the game and I didn't."
She was closely working with another supervisor in her department until she went on maternity leave, so she was replaced by a guy named Trevor
Image credits: u/tippytoemaster
Thinking about it didn’t help change anything, so the woman continued working as usual until an opportunity came. The woman found out that Trevor told his team not to listen to her and not to do the work for a project that both of their teams were supposed to contribute to. It was an important project with a deadline, but the OP took the opportunity to make Trevor get in trouble for his own mistake.
The Redditor told us that it wasn't the first time that Trevor would cause problems. Actually, before being promoted he was quite friendly, but his bevior changed after. The woman told us about the first thing that her coworker did after being promoted to the team supervisor, "[He reconstructed] a project we were working on. It didn't seem like he was trying to step on toes, rather just impress the boss. But the change made the project more time consuming and I got a lot of complaints from staff after that change."
Usually, the woman would catch these mistakes and fix them without causing a comotion but she realised that Trevor actually was not suited for his job, "I had been so busy with all of my new responsibilities at the time. I hadn't even stopped to recognize that Trevor was straight up bad at this. He was trying to fire staff members, make useless changes, play into office politics, and he was never actually at his desk working."
On top of that, their manager was promoted, so they hired an outside person that the woman had to train and help figure out how things work
Image credits: u/tippytoemaster
So this time, because of the timing Trevor chose to challenge the Redditor's authority, she was more upset than in any previous instances as it was right after she lost this position that she ws so excited about. The woman told us that this is what made her not try to fix it this time and "let the company really get a taste of Trevor and his bad calls."
It’s not clear what Trevor was trying to achieve by doing so, because it was agreed that both of the supervisors would work together and share projects. The OP’s best guess is that he thought she would panic and make her team do the other team’s work too or he just wanted her to look bad.
Neither of those options were the outcome, because when the director called everyone to figure out why the project was not done in time, the truth quickly came out. Trevor was asked to remain with the director alone and even though the OP wasn’t there, she heard and saw how angry the director was.
However, the man didn't last long, but he was impressed with the woman and promised her to recommend her in his place
Image credits: u/tippytoemaster
The scolding continued for an hour and the project that was unfinished was related to payroll, so it’s understandable that Trevor’s decision caused a lot of havoc. Trevor not only didn’t get the promotion that he was promised, but was also demoted to his initial position as a regular team member. It worked out wonderfully because the other supervisor then came back from her maternity leave.
The most important part is that the OP got the promotion in the end. She told us what it was like working with Trevor in his old position and how it lead to him leaving to another department, "As his boss, we did work together after he returned. Trevor, though, met with his immediate supervisor regularly but never me. She told me he would talk to his friends in other departments throughout the day and that his contribution to team projects had been lackluster. I had asked her to meet with him about his performance. She spoke with him once, but then he left the team shortly after."
A week later, the woman found out that the director chose Trevor for this position and it was a slap in her face as Trevor was a new supervisor
Image credits: Sustainable Devleopment (not the actual image)
Image credits: u/tippytoemaster
The OP ended on a happy note of getting what she wanted after being betrayed, but the happy news doesn't end there. People were curious if she still worked at the same company and if she managed to achieve even more.
In the comments, the woman revealed that she stopped working full-time and is managing a few projects from home because the company offered to pay for her education so she could climb up even higher as that position required a degree.
We were curious what kind of degree she is getting and the woman was happy to share, "I'm taking courses for a business management degree. My director went over a couple options with me and I loved the idea of moving up to one day run a branch of the company, so I made the choice myself."
But he became good friends with the director while the woman was doing the work as if she already was a manager
Image credits: u/tippytoemaster
In a comment, the woman mentioned that she liked her coworkers and would go out with them after work, so they got along pretty well. But she felt that to Trevor, she wasn’t a friend or even a coworker, instead a rival and a competitor that was an obstacle to him moving forward.
It’s hard to work with these kinds of people as because of them, the work environment might become hostile and actually make you want to quit. A survey conducted in 2014 revealed that 73% of respondents have a workplace rival.
There was nothing more left to do but to continue working until an opportunity to prevent Trevor from getting the promotion came
Image credits: u/tippytoemaster
The platform for uploading and searching jobs, Monster, says that “Without someone to chase and outperform, would you be as motivated? A little friendly competition never hurt anyone, right?” But it can go too far and people in the survey noticed how it affected their performance.
Only 6% of the respondents “claimed it inspired them to do some of their best work” but for others, the effects were negative: “55% claim it created undue stress/reduced productivity; 20% claimed very negative impacts, including getting into trouble with management and job loss.”
He told his team not to listen to the woman as she wasn't their boss, which meant his team didn't do their half of the project
Image credits: u/tippytoemaster
Realizing that he would get in trouble for it and not her, the woman didn't do anything and that resulted in her getting the promotion
Image credits: Rawpixel Ltd (not the actual image)
Because of the negative effects of rivalry and problematic coworker behavior, “one in five (20%) respondents has left a job due to a rivalry in the workplace. An additional 26% have considered leaving a job.”
Thankfully, it never bothered the OP too much, although she listed a few incidents that she can’t forget in the comments. Despite Trevor trying to actively sabotage her, the woman was smart enough to not only get a promotion, but reveal the truth about him.
She also added, "Being with such a young, fast moving company, I've worked alongside a lot of difficult people. Trevor was far from the worst. I hate the games he was playing, but I really don't hate him. He got in his own way, I simply let it happen."
We would like to hear your thoughts about this story and if you have any similar experiences with toxic coworkers, let us know how you handled them.
People in the comments were pretty confused what Trevor thought would happen, but were happy that the woman got a position that she deserved
