Competing with your colleagues for promotion

Being placed in a position where you are competing for advancement with a colleague is rarely pleasant, but often happens. So how should you behave - and how far should you go?

Where should I start? Mike Leibling, an executive coach and author of Working with the Enemy, says that you might want to have a kind of "May the best person win" talk with your competitor. After that, he recommends being more hard-nosed: "Stick to the facts and don't consider other people's feelings. Take your brief at face value. It's you or the other person."
What if I am invited to denigrate my competitor?"Attacking your opponent, even if you're asked to, will almost always make you look bad," says Mike Phipps, co-founder of the consultancy Politics at Work. "Rather, you could say something like, 'I can't really comment on Bob's suitability for this role, but this is why I am the best person'."
Mr Leibling adds that some weak managers may even ask you to make the decision, but that this is easy to sidestep: "If the boss says, 'It's your choice whether you or Bob gets the job', you could respond by saying, 'If you offer me the job I'll say yes'."
How far can I go in undermining them? There is a balance to be struck between unfairly undermining your rival and highlighting valid information that might affect the outcome. The latter could range from serious misdemeanours he or she has committed, such as the falsifying of invoices, to less serious things, such as covering up minor mistakes or inaccuracies on their CV.
Your response could range from directly disclosing information or merely hinting to your boss that things are not quite as they seem. "The extent to which you're willing to go all the way is a personality thing," says Alan Redman, a business psychologist at the Criterion Partnership. "At one end of the spectrum there are people who wouldn't consider it and at the other, there are so-called 'psychopaths in suits' who wouldn't give it a second thought."
Mr Redman adds that these considerations can also be affected by corporate culture and external factors such as your needing money to pay the mortgage. "Doing what it takes to win doesn't necessarily make you a psycho."
The most important consideration, he says, is that you need to be able to live with your decision afterwards. It is worth noting that this cuts both ways - if you do not divulge a damaging fact, and your opponent wins this could gnaw away at you for years afterwards.
How do I cope with the fallout if I win?If your boss does not help you here, Mr Redman says, "it is down to you to help [your rival] deal with their cognitive dissonance. Say things like, 'I need your help on this', neutralise the emotion and emphasise how you will help them in the future."
The writer is author of 'The Careerist: Over 100 ways to get ahead at work' More News From Financial Times
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