highfivelives Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Hi, I am a professional in my mid 50s presently working in what I would consider a dream job. I'm an experienced project manager and team leader with technology development, field work and safety. About 1 year ago, a junior person was hired in a similar role as me. I don't manage him but we do work together on some projects. His personality was apparent to me, and others, right away; insecure, negative, self-centered, paranoid yet competitive, and he immediately started competing with me. I am meant to mentor him but I find it very difficult at times. He asks for help a lot, from me and others, but rarely acknowledges this to others. I have been dealing with this ok up until the last few months. Now this employee is positioning himself for a temporary assignment, that requires much more experience than he has, that I would also like to secure. With anyone else in our group I would be happy for them if they got the assignment and would mentor as required. But, with this guy, I feel differently because he is so self-centered and only looks out for #1. Advice? Should I be assertive and position myself for the assignment or just leave it alone and hope logic prevails with our managers? Link to post Share on other sites
d0nnivain Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 When you interview make sure your managers know just how much mentoring & advice you had to give junior to keep him afloat in the position he has now. A good manager will see that for three things: 1). your superior qualifications; 2). his lack of experience and 3). you are a team player. Don't be affirmatively negative toward him but do position yourself as his guide. Highlight what you did for him as one of your successes in your present role & one of the reasons you are a better fit for the new position Link to post Share on other sites
Author highfivelives Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 When you interview make sure your managers know just how much mentoring & advice you had to give junior to keep him afloat in the position he has now. A good manager will see that for three things: 1). your superior qualifications; 2). his lack of experience and 3). you are a team player. Don't be affirmatively negative toward him but do position yourself as his guide. Highlight what you did for him as one of your successes in your present role & one of the reasons you are a better fit for the new position Thanks for the tips. The new assignment is temporary in nature, so they won't interview, they will just assign it to whoever is best and available. To handle this professionally, I won't complain about Junior. I must just keep working hard and let the cards fall where they may. Ulimately, I need to get clear of junior because I find his attitude is toxic and time-confusing. Link to post Share on other sites
d0nnivain Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 At least pitch those concepts to your boss & make sure that person knows you want the temp gig Link to post Share on other sites
Maggie4 Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Competitiveness in itself is not a bad thing. Him looking out for himself is not toxic. May the better man win. You don't want to come across as whiney, and saying you're the one who helped him but he did not acknowledge, is bordering on that. That's not what leaders do. However, if nobody likes him, that's where he fails. Why shouldn't you be assertive and go for this assignment that you want? Link to post Share on other sites
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