Value in Comparisons

You may have heard the expression, “Comparing is the thief of joy.” I recently saw a post where someone countered this, saying that comparison can be healthy and that envy is really the thief of joy.

I love that perspective. Identifying things you want or that will better you is good. It creates a desire that can lead to more growth or happiness. One of the easiest ways to do this is by looking at others.

When we can recognize that someone has something we want, we can watch or reach out to learn how they got it, whether it’s a skill, attitude, relationship, or material item. Taking the learning opportunity without jealously towards them for having, or resentment toward ourselves for lacking, enables us to continually better ourselves from a place of respect and joy.

This is a perspective that you can cultivate on your team to promote intrateam skill building. By acknowledging the strengths of each team member, you invite people on the team to respect the expertise of others while feeling recognized as an expert themselves. You can then encourage team members to seek out a team expert when they need to build a skill, and to provide mentoring themselves when someone comes to them.

Of course, team members can build their skills through online courses, books, or Google. However, by appropriately leveraging each other’s knowledge, team members have the opportunity to build respect and trust with each other, promote team alignment, and feel like they’re a valued part of something bigger than themselves.