THE HARM WE CAUSE — Power, Influence, and the Thirst for “center stage.”

It is Ironic how some are proud and eager to share their personal, academic, or professional achievements (with the world), yet they do not hesitate to hinder, block, or even damage the careers of others. 

In many academic, healthcare, and business circles, it is common practice to encounter scholars and professionals whose career growth has been hindered, blocked, or somehow damaged by others. These “others” are peers or superiors within the same academic or professional organization. The fundamental question is why humans behave in such a way.  My philosophy in life has always been that the podium is large enough for everybody and that there are uncountable opportunities in life for everyone to excel in their chosen paths. Unfortunately, I have repeatedly had to concur with the fact that while this philosophy holds truth, the reality is different.

Many say a rising tide floats all boats, yet despite the literal and metaphorical truth in that statement, the “rising tide” in the current sea of our humanity does not float all boats. So why is this the case?  Why do scholars and leaders in academia, healthcare, and corporate business intentionally set out to hurt their peers? This is a question I have been asking for a long while now, but still haven't found a satisfying answer for.

In many organizations, scholars, and professionals experience (or have experienced) situations where their careers have been hindered or halted due to unclear and unexplainable reasons. This situation, called “Career Sabotaging,” is a phenomenon where, despite efforts for promotion or success, a system of peers and superiors around the individual hinders, blocks, or sabotages the outcome of that effort.

As a scholar, researcher, educator, and (physician) leader, I have experienced many “career sabotaging” situations by academic and professional peers. In each of these cases, I tended to start unsuspectingly ambitious, naïve, and thinking that those around me had my best interests in mind.  Not until I begin to notice specific patterns in the professional interactions do I start to wonder if something is wrong. To find an answer, I often embarked on an exploratory (self-)inquiry to understand what was happening. I also reached out to those I believed (or supposed) were my mentors or coaches for advice.

Why NOT me?

At this stage of inquiry, I generally wonder about the possible cause(s) of all the unlucky moments in my career, especially when I observe how easy it works for others around me as they move up the ladder of success.  For example, you notice the progress of many colleagues you started with and many who started after you. You see the latter catch up with you and even pass you by.  You self-reflect and reflect with others and try to answer that question: why and how do others progress, and you don't? What am I (possibly) doing wrong?  In your drive to find the answer to the question, you develop the impostor syndrome. You start to believe that the problem is you. You are convinced that your bad fortune is due to something you did or said or how you acted, talked, dressed, smiled, or even sneezed!  When common logic proves otherwise, you convince yourself that you are the problem, a phenomenon of self-deception or, better said, cognitive dissonance. This process continues for a significant part of your career until exhausted from trying so hard, you bump into that moment of clarity, the eureka “aha” moment … You discover, finally, that it probably was not your fault all this while, but instead, the academic, professional, or corporate world you are in was designed for you to believe that you are the problem, the misfit, the outlier.  The context was designed per default to disrupt your career, a phenomenon I have coined “career sabotaging.”

Characteristics of “Career Sabotaging” behavior

As mentioned earlier, Career sabotaging is that situation where all your effort(s) to grow in your career is hindered or blocked by a system of peers and superiors around you. The consequence of that sabotage is always negative, and the intent is to harm, damage, or stain the individual, his/her career, and/or public standing. But how do you recognize the phenomenon?  That is simple... there is always a central and five minor conditions that recurrently occur. And, you have to identify each one of them for the situation to qualify as career-sabotaging.

1. The CENTRAL feature of career-sabotaging situations is the clear intent to harm or hurt.

Then, you have the five MINOR features, which must also be present to complete the picture.

1. There is always a (vague) explanation to defend the actions taken to block your career.
2. The action involves moral injustice and causes moral injury
3. The reason is NEVER because you are underperforming; on the contrary, you are performing beyond what is expected of you
4. There is a defamatory narrative (based on lies) that is spread to make the story stick
5. Those around you (colleagues and friends) stay silent in the face of the injustice

So when you first look at those situations in your career where you missed that promotion, got dismissed, or were not sponsored by a superior and then identify the abovementioned six elements, then that situation is a clear case of “career sabotaging”! 

Final thoughts

Throughout my career, I have done a lot of soul-searching and reflection, and still continue to do so. I have sought advice for personal improvement and participated in several self-development programs — I now realize that I have done all of this under the erroneous premise that I was the cause of my career misfortunes. Still, despite my personal successes and failures, I continue to contribute to the growth and success of my (junior) peers. This I do with pleasure 😉.

So, to the victims of career sabotaging, I would encourage you to continue being beacons of hope and promise. Always be good to others because you will reap what you sow. To the perpetrators of career-sabotaging behavior, I would say, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you – The Golden Rule.