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How best should somebody be competitive in the workplace? Especially with somebody in your team?
The thing is there are these points:
-There are five of us in our team. Three regular employees and two government trainees. We are an ICT-based team mainly, but we specialise in physical security systems, such as intruder alarms, VSS/CCTV cameras, etc.
- My role in the team is largely admin-based, and I think I add a lot (without blowing my own trumpet) to the team in this regard. I am quite competent in the use of written English and business communication, have project management skills, etc. I also have skills in making presentations, and am quite competent also in this regard. I sound conceited, but these are things that our manager has commended me for. He often says I should write reports for my team-mates, since it is a strength I do possess.
- I want to broaden my role more, to include more ICT-based work. The person I am hoping to compete with is our team leader. She is a nice girl, and knows her stuff, and I have a feeling that she and I are our manager's most valued staff. She for her technical nous, and me for my admin nous.
- Now, I am looking to study some ICT-based stuff, so I can better contribute in that manner. But how best can I compete with this girl? I don't want to be too confrontational, since I like/respect her. But I feel both of us are sort of competing to be our manager's star, so to speak.
The biggest thing to watch out for is brown-nosing. Whatever path you do take, if it comes across as brown-nosing to either your coworker or your manager, that spells big trouble. And your manager will not thank you if his/her well-greased machine falls apart because someone wants to rock the boat.
One option... have this girl take on some of your duties while you take on some of her duties. Or, wait for a circumstance where the girl is out sick/on-vacation and come in to the save the day. At least you have the excuse that you were filling in. Maybe your boss would hand you the reins to the more technical stuff.
Its a dicey situation since people can turn on you awfully quick once they sense what you are doing.
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