This may sound ridiculous, but I have always had a sense of fair play, so even when I am in competition with someone, say, for a job, I try to see things from my competitor’s position and to be fair to them. As you might imagine, this isn’t so good when I’m competing for a promotion.
A few years ago, I was up against a colleague—a divorced woman with several kids. Normally, I would have felt that she needed the job more than I did. I don’t need the money. It’s just me. I would not have really tried that hard. But, for whatever reason, I decided I really wanted the promotion, and I promoted the hell out of myself. I just didn’t care what happened to her and her kids. It wasn’t relevant.
It didn’t really matter, in the end, as she was offered a much better position closer to where her parents and the rest of her family lived, and she took that. Worse, for me, the company was acquired by another, and in the process, they eliminated my position. Well, the whole department, actually. It’s tempting to look on that as karmic in nature. I just sort of think life has a way of making us look silly whenever we try to carry out a big plan.