While envy is a natural human feeling, unhealthy levels of jealousy can lead to relationship and productivity issues at home and in the workplace. The good news is that envy rarely lasts. Some research suggests it may even strengthen interpersonal bonds.

Being envious of someone who has something you want is only human. It’s human nature to feel jealous of others when they enjoy material prosperity. To some extent, this is expected. However, taking action is necessary when envy arises over little matters.

You should examine your feelings of inadequacy and determine why you feel intimidated by a coworker’s success. What exactly about this person irritates you so much? Any history between you two? Do you really want what they have, or are you just envious?

If you want to overcome your sentiments of envy, it’s necessary to figure out why you’re feeling that way in the first place. When you do, you can finally release those painful feelings and go on.

Once we start feeling jealous, it’s hard to stop. Professional assistance is recommended if you find yourself suffering from excessive envy. If, on the other hand, your jealousy of another person’s achievement is only modest, you can deal with it on your own.

Some advice on how to handle a jealous coworker:

1. Remain humble and modest

Don’t brag about it when you are promoted or given a raise. You want to avoid creating jealousy among co-workers. Instead, tell those around you how much you appreciate what they do. This way, you will inspire others to perform better and help them succeed.

Share encouraging words to help motivate your team members to improve their work performance. Remind them that everyone deserves a chance to succeed. Encourage them to celebrate their successes with friends or family outside of the office rather than bragging about their accomplishments within earshot of colleagues.

2. Check Yourself

When we feel good about ourselves, it’s easy to forget how others perceive us. But it’s hard to see our faults when we’re down on ourselves. So ask yourself this question: “Did I provoke this?” If you think you’ve been acting like a jerk lately, take some time to reflect on why. You might find that you need to be humble toward those around you.

Another thing to consider is whether your actions have caused harm to others. For example, apologize if you were rude to one of your coworkers. You could also ask for forgiveness.

This doesn’t mean you have to make up for past mistakes. Rather, you could say, “I’m sorry if I offended you.” Then move forward and be more mindful of the needs of others.

3. Silence Is Golden

Silence is golden. Or, at least, it used to be. In today’s fast-paced world, people constantly talk about work, colleagues, and what they did over the weekend. And while we’re all busy tweeting our way through life, there’s one thing we rarely talk about: ourselves. We’ll never know how often someone told us, “I wish I could say that,” or “You’d think he/she would learn.” But we certainly hear it enough.

We’ve all been guilty of saying things that make others cringe — whether it’s bragging about our latest promotion or telling someone else to stop complaining about their boss. While some people take pride in complying with the constant chatter, others find it difficult to ignore.

4. Teach new skills to others

Asking people to learn new things is one of the best ways to make them happy. While learning new things can take many forms — whether taking up a new hobby or trying something completely different like language study — there are some specific ways you can encourage your coworkers to do just that.

The benefits of helping out your colleagues include increased job satisfaction, motivation, and retention, according to a recent survey conducted by CareerBuilder.com. Nearly three-quarters of workers surveyed said they’d be less likely to leave their current jobs if they knew their employer helped them develop new skills.

5. Keep Up The Good Work

Jealousy is one of the most common human emotions and can often lead to conflict. But there’s nothing wrong with feeling envious of someone else’s success. Some people thrive on being envied.

However, envy can cause problems when it becomes too intense. When you’re jealous of someone else’s accomplishments, you may feel like you don’t deserve the same level of success yourself.

This can become a self-fulfilling prophecy—if you think you aren’t good enough, you won’t try hard enough to succeed.

So, how do you handle jealousy? Focus on the good things in your life rather than giving in to the negative ones.

Think about the reasons why you want to achieve your goals. Is it because you want to make money? Or maybe you want to help others.

Whatever the reason, find something positive to remind yourself of every day. And remember, no matter how successful someone might seem, they probably have yet to achieve everything they wanted.

6. Be open to learning and experimenting

It’s important to show your employees that you’re willing to learn new things, but it’s just as important to show them that you’re willing to teach them something.

You need to reassure them that you’re willing to learn alongside them. So, it’s not enough to teach skills; you also need to show that you’re eager to learn them.

Inquire what you, as a leader, can do to serve as a better role model and mentor to your team members.

To encourage greater teamwork, suggest that employees solicit and exchange suggestions for completing specific tasks. Contributing knowledge can help workers feel less like adversaries and more like team members.

7. Don’t Take It Personally

Brains often interpret things differently based on how much we value ourselves. If someone else is successful, we see it as a personal attack against us. This is why people tend to take things personally when others envy them.

The next time you feel jealous, try to remind yourself that the person probably feels insecure about themselves. You might think you’re better than them, but they could be struggling with their insecurities. Instead of taking it personally, focus on helping them work through whatever issues they may have.

8. Be A Leader

To lead a successful team, you must start by being one yourself. There are plenty of ways to do it, but here are five tips to help you become a leader in your workplace:

1. Lead by Example. Leaders don’t just talk about their beliefs; they live them daily. They show others how to act, think, and feel. When you set the example, everyone follows.
2. Take Responsibility. When things go wrong, leaders admit fault and take responsibility. They know that no matter how good their ideas are, there will always be problems along the way. They accept that and work hard to fix them.
3. Set Clear Expectations. A leader sets clear expectations for their team members. Leaders make sure everyone knows exactly what is expected of them. This helps avoid confusion and conflict.

9. Focus On Supportive People

You’ll notice that most successful people surround themselves with supportive people. They choose friends who help them grow, who challenge them, who make them laugh, and who love them unconditionally.

These people understand that success isn’t just about money; it’s about positively impacting the world. And when you surround yourself with people who believe in you, you will find that you, too, start believing in yourself.

10. Don’t Apologize

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Don’t apologize.” I’m sure you know exactly what I mean. Sometimes, apologizing is appropriate, like when you accidentally break something. Or when you say something that offends someone else. Or when you do something wrong.

And there are times when apologies aren’t needed, such as when you make a mistake. Sometimes apologies can even hurt others.

But here’s the thing… Apologies don’t work well for everyone. Sometimes people hear an apology and assume that it reflects badly on them. They might worry that they did something wrong or that they somehow failed. And if that happens, they’ll start feeling guilty. If they’re really sensitive, they might even begin to feel ashamed.

And no one likes being shamed. So don’t apologize. Instead, try saying something like, “I’m sorry,” or “That must have been embarrassing for you.”

Conclusion

Jealousy is a negative emotion that has no place in any working relationship. And it certainly doesn’t help anyone’s reputation. Instead, keep in mind the advice mentioned above to avoid experiencing feelings of envy. You should feel joy because you earned it.

Remember that you shouldn’t let your jealous coworker get you down or shake your self-assurance. Our professional resume writers can assist you with any other employment-related difficulty. Get in touch with us right away if you’re interested!