My workplace has a (rare) opportunity for progression in the pipeline - a few of us have been there years, one colleague started a few months ago.
My colleagues and I who have been there years are fairly gentle, empathetic, relaxed personalities who value harmony. None of us are weak though - we’re all good at our jobs and can be firm when needed.
Newer colleague - desperate to make it from day one. Domineering, talks over us all, sucks up to management, muscles in on things, takes credit, shows off, is hugely competitive and looks visibly gutted when someone bests her (though she’s fairly subtle about it). I thought of and implemented a new document today, voiced it out loud in the office and by the time I went to save it, she’d already done a version of the same thing herself and saved it in the communal folder. Gobsmacked!
Am I doomed? I probably won’t be first in line for promotion anyway but a couple of us are really struggling with the thought of working under her. We can see how she is but we don’t think management see it - she’ll probably just be identified as the ‘leader’. Direct manager is checked out, exhausted, defeated by the wider organization and will take the past of least resistance, i.e. giving all the best work to whoever shouts the loudest.
Obviously I’m going to keep very quiet about any future ideas. And I’m actively finding ways to showcase what I’m doing. Any other ideas on how to manage these characters? Do they usually rise to the top despite being hideous, ludicrous, gross?