By J. Mason
Online Career Tips Editor
There is a certain art form to being a one-upper in the office. It takes practice, timing, and above all better stories and ideas than anyone else in the room. Sarcasm is usually how a one-upper is dealt with, although not typically to their face. Always having a better story, suggestion, or solution can be exhausting to others in the office. It creates an unrealistic image of a persons true self when they start to employ the “my idea is better than yours” mentality.
Being guilty of one-upping from time to time is natural, it’s an alpha mentality that almost requires you to strut your stuff. The issue with one-upping a colleague, or worse your boss, is when it starts to grate on their nerves and push them away from being able to carry on a simple conversation with you. Nobody likes an office brag. Don’t give your co-workers a reason to talk about you behind your back, instead find a clever way to insert your amazing stories into another atmosphere.
Happy hour is a great time to let loose and brag about accomplishments. Name dropping while sipping on a cocktail is allowable for a few minutes of time, as long as your guests are joining in on the experience. If you’re unsure of how to direct your impressive conversation then ask around. Or, you can ask someone else to share a similar experience after you’ve finished. The key is to give others the opportunity to talk without being interrupted.
Don’t bring a one-upping face-off to a meeting. When someone in the room has one suggestion, you can either build on it, or hold your ideas until the end or when asked. Unless your hand was raised or you were called upon there needs to be some limitations set on when to show off your skills. There should be equal opportunity in the spotlight. Once the floor is shared with others you’ll notice a difference not only in positive body language toward you, but an overall happier disposition of your fellow colleagues. There’s nothing wrong with sharing an opinion or an interesting diatribe from time to time, but don’t commandeer the situation simply because you don’t think others have as much value to add to it.
How did you do on last week’s bad habit, working on external projects? Give yourself a pat on the back if you found a happy medium for the two. If you’re still working on developing a better plan for managing your external position then consider talking to a family member or friend about budgeting your time better.
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