Turn The Office Enemy Into Your Bestie

You love to hate her, but once you get her on your side, you’ll see that you couldn’t have found a better job ally.

- Sasha Gonzales

Every office has one: Aggressive, rude, manipulative, disruptive, ultra-competitive, narcissistic, and crafty, she’s the catty colleague you hate. Make a mistake and she belittles you in front of everyone. Tell her a secret and she finds a way to use it against you. Discuss an idea with her and she shoots it down, making you feel stupid and small. She’s worse than toxic. You wish you could ignore her but you have to work with her, and, right now, she’s making your job hell.

HER BEHAVIOUR EXPLAINED

She behaves the way she does to get ahead in her career, says Julia Ng, a senior executive coach at Executive Coach International. “It’s all about needing to feel powerful and gain the upper hand over everyone else. Underlying that, however, is an overwhelming insecurity. By being nasty, she minimises the threat posed by others and this boosts her self-confidence and self-esteem.”

While she may get on your nerves, Julia says that, secretly, you probably wish you had some of her qualities. “It sounds surprising, but the office b**** can certainly teach us a thing or two about finding our voice and standing up for ourselves at work,” she explains.