So you have finally won the promotion that you were anticipating for the last so many months. But after beating your colleagues turned competitors in your march to success, you suddenly realize that you have more foes in office than you could handle. Yes, it can indeed be difficult to enjoy success when all your other co-workers are waiting for an opportunity to backstab you.

If you happen to be an overachiever, then no matter what you do, how congenial or nice you’re to your colleagues, you are bound to incite their jealousy. So if you are facing a problem of dealing with jealous colleagues, here are a few Xpert to help you handle the situation:

Examine yourself first

Before blaming your colleagues for your misery, try examining your own behavior and manners for a minute. Is your behavior or action in the past few weeks in any way responsible for inciting the jealousy of your colleagues? Did you rub your colleagues the wrong way by bragging about your promotion, especially when they were the same for themselves? Often it’s not our success, rather our behavior that draws the ire of our colleagues. So if you feel that you are in some ways responsible for your problems, try toning down your elitist attitude.

Change Your Image

While you can’t change everything about yourself for the sake of your colleagues, altering your image ever so slightly can enable you to diffuse a lot of jealousy that’s directed towards you. If you are viewed by your colleagues as an individual who works not just for himself but for his entire team then your success won’t be viewed with jealousy but with admiration.

Give Credit to Others

Anytime you have a legitimate reason to share the credit for a successful decision or project, just do it. When you are selfless enough share the spotlight with you colleagues every once in a while, it becomes harder for them to be jealous of you. It’s really as simple as saying “Yeah, the project was a success. But had it not been for Rajesh and his incredible artwork, it wouldn’t have looked half as good”.

Disengage From Gossip

Often when people are forced to deal with jealous colleagues, they decide to fight fire with fire. Getting together with your of new found friends and using your new found authority, you can inflict considerable damage on your jealous colleagues. But instead of hitting back, you should be magnanimous enough to take the high road and concentrate on your work. After all it was your hard work that got you the promotion in the first place.

Find Friends in High Places

Jealous people never operate singly. They tend to team up and use their strength in numbers to good effect. So if you feel that your promotion doesn’t shield you adequately from their hatred, you would need to make friends in the upper echelons of the food chain. Seeing you hobnobbing with the top brass might just act as fuel to their fire of jealousy, but it will also make them think thrice before they try to target you overtly with their malice. However, don’t turn away those allies and friends (irrespective of their position in the company) who have stuck with you till now.

I do hope that you are able to use these Xpert tips to good effect and deal with corporate jealousy without feeling victimized or miserable.