Are you cursed by competence?

There are certain rules you learn as a kid that you believe to your very core to be true. Not only that, you desperately want them to be true! One of those rules is “Work as hard as you can and do your best every day, and your hard work will be rewarded.” I have to tell you something that you already know: sometimes that formula works, and sometimes it doesn’t.

When you do a great job, people generally notice. (If they don’t notice, that’s a a big problem right there!) Depending on the situation, a manager who observes your terrific performance at work can have lots of different reactions to it.

Here are just a few of them:

• Wow! That Terry does a great job. That’s a great employee.
• Susan works so fast that she has idle time – give her more to do!
• Javier is the best tech, so let’s get him to train everybody else and still keep up with his own workload.
• Rhonda gets her work done too fast. She must be cutting corners.
• I don’t like the fact that Jackie makes her calls in half the time the other reps do. It makes them look bad. She should stop showing off.
• If Chuck can get results like that, it must be easier than I thought.

Your competence at your job can be a source of pride for you and the people you work for, or it can be a major hindrance for you. The central question to ponder is “Am I working in a trusting environment or a fearful one?”

Fearful managers don’t recognize and praise their most competent employees. They may be threatened by people who find complicated problems easy to untangle and who sail through major projects. Fearful people especially fear what they don’t understand.

Our client Michael ran into this phenomenon on the job. He had a great, easy way with customers and also took great care to handle his customers’ smallest needs. His boss was not a fan of Michael’s approach. “You’re not a flippin’ Customer Service rep,” the boss told Michael. “I just want to make sure my customers are taken care of,” said Mike.

The boss couldn’t understand how Michael could run around the building taking care of his customers’ shipping and billing snarls and still make his sales target every quarter.

If his boss had been curious, Michael could have shared what he knew about sales, but his boss didn’t want her employees to teach her anything. Michael’s manager Janice told her boss, the VP, that Michael wasn’t a team player.

The VP was confused to hear that, because he’d always seen Mike as nothing but a helpful and encouraging guy. He talked to Michael directly and shared what he had heard from Janice, the sales manager. “Mike,” he said, “Tell me the truth. Why is Janice telling me you’re not a team player?”

“Here’s all I can tell you,” said Michael. “If you value my services, move me into a different group.” That’s what happened, about six weeks later.

Why would a manager shoot himself in the foot misusing or abusing the talents of a high-performing, high-potential employee? They’d do it if they feared looking less capable than their own team member, for starters.

A fearful manager will thwart a talented team member when the best thing for the company would be to exalt and celebrate the talented team member’s gifts. Not everyone is mature enough to separate the company’s interests from his or her own, fear-driven ones.

People in fear devolve into single-celled organisms called amoeba. They’re not thinking at a high level in that state.

They’re thinking “This employee is too good! I’m afraid!” Their good judgment goes out the window. Amoebae can only recognize two things: predator, and prey. If you look like a scary predator to a boss in his or her amoeba state, your best move is to get out of that situation, pronto.

If you are good at something, your job is to do whatever you do so well in an environment where your flame can grow. Otherwise you are pushing on a rope or pushing a rock uphill. How can you tell whether your current job qualifies as a place where your flame can grow?

Do they tell you “Wow, great job!” when you accomplish something that you know few of your colleagues could have done? If so, that’s magnificent! If not, your competence may be taken for granted.

When your manager asks you to take on bigger and more challenging projects, is there something in it for you beyond the satisfaction of a job well done? Does anybody mention your excellent performance at salary-review time, and do they compensate you for your outstanding results?

Money isn’t everything, but you should be paid for the impact of your work, and if you’re outshining your workmates on a regular basis and no one seems to care, then you’re not in the right place.

If you don’t see people around you who can mentor you and serve as role models, that’s another sign that your path leads elsewhere. Life is all about learning, and sometimes the most important lessons seep into our consciousness slowly over time.

If you’re reading these words and thinking “Maybe I need to take my act to a bigger stage next year” I have a strong feeling you’re right.

The worldwide Human Workplace community is rooting for you! Only the people who get you, deserve you — your job is to go find them!

This article is published in collaboration with LinkedIn. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: Liz Ryan is the CEO and Founder of Human Workplace.

Image: Pedestrians cross a road at Tokyo’s business district September 30, 2014. REUTERS.