There’s bad envy, and there’s good envy.
That’s according to a paper published by Alison Wood Brooks, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, who was able to formalize two kinds of envy: malicious and benign.
Portraying an image of uninterrupted professional success is the fastest way to project an image of perfection that makes others want to tear you down. That’s malicious envy.
On the other hand, there’s benign envy. That’s the ability to cultivate admiration and inspiration through an honest accounting of both successes and failures. This kind of envymakes people want to strive, learn and grow.
Here’s how to foster benign envy:
1. Don’t brag in public. If you list your accomplishments in public conversations in front of coworkers, you are sure to elicit malicious envy from bosses and colleagues alike.
2. Highlight your struggles. Johannes Haushofer, a Princeton professor, wanted to help a colleague who had not achieved a career goal. He posted a “CV of failures” on his professional website, which ended up receiving more attention than his entire body of work. Admitting failures makes you more accessible and relatable.
3. Emphasize what you learned from failure and success. Talk openly about your failures and successes. Everyone appreciates a good underdog story or “rags to riches” tale. Life and business are messy with many twists and turns. Highlight them for more genuine interactions.
4. Be honest about the role of luck. While it sounds trite, luck plays a huge role in success. Recognize it and be honest about it. We all have people and circumstances put in our lives that we could never have planned for. Admit it and be grateful.
You’re never really the smartest person in the room, even if you think you are. Be humble about your wins, and be hungry for more knowledge if you want to boost your odds for future success.
Have a great week.
Sign up for The Sunday Snippet!
Good ideas to help you prosper delivered fresh each Sunday morning.