Why Your Workplace Turns Colleagues Into Competitors | Dr. Nir Halevy – EP 835

John R. Miles (0:00)

Coming up next on Passion Struck. Competition can push people to do extraordinary things. But what happens when getting ahead starts making us less willing to help the people around us?

Nir Halevy, a Stanford professor who studies power, status, and human behavior, has spent years examining that question. And one of his findings is especially revealing. Listen to what he says about how sabotage can begin in the workplace.

Nir Halevy (0:35)

But I'm really worried about what happens when it gets to sabotage and other harmful behaviors. And it doesn't have to be a very active sabotage. It can just be that you're not helping your teammates or other coworkers and colleagues, right? They need a little bit of your time and a little bit of your experience and advice here and there. And you're keeping that yourself. You're hoarding information. You're not sharing.

John R. Miles (0:57)

Hey, it's your friend, John, and welcome to Passion Struck. I'm so glad you're here. Whether you're a long time listener or someone who just discovered the show, thank you for pressing play today.

Maybe you've built the life you were supposed to want, but you've quietly wondered why it still doesn't feel like enough.

If that's you, you're in the right place. Every week, I sit down with the world's top scientists, researchers and thinkers to uncover what it actually takes to build an intentional life that matters. Thanks for joining me. Let's get into it.

Hey friends, welcome to episode 835 of Passion Struck. We're continuing our October series, The Architecture of Agency, exploring the forces that shape how we see ourselves, make choices and build our lives. Last week, I spoke with psychotherapist and relationship expert Terry Cole about how the patterns we develop early in life can shape our adult relationships, our sense of worth and the roles we take on. Then Dr. Kristin Neff joined me to explore the science of self-compassion and how learning to meet ourselves with kindness can create the emotional space to respond to life's challenges with greater intention. Those conversations brought us closer to understanding the internal forces that shape our choices. Today, we're turning outward to examine another powerful influence, the systems and structures that shape how we relate to one another. My guest today is Dr. Nir Halevy, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University, and author of the new book Level Up, Why Hierarchies Are Broken and How to Fix Them.

Hierarchy is everywhere in our workplaces, schools, families, and communities. It can provide structure, direction, and opportunities to grow. But when competition becomes excessive, power goes unchecked or people begin to see one another as threats. Those same structures can undermine collaboration and trust. Nir has spent more than 15 years studying how power status and social comparison influence human behavior. In our conversation, we explore why other people's success can sometimes inspire us and at other times, make us feel threatened. When performance rankings motivate people and when they encourage harmful behavior. We also examine the subtle ways competition can damage relationships, including withholding information or refusing to help a colleague because their success feels like a threat to our own, and Nir shares a framework for building healthier hierarchies around three principles, common value, pluralism, and relatedness. His work challenges leaders to think differently about success, contribution in the kinds of environments that bring people together. Because agency is shaped by more than our individual beliefs and choices, it's also influenced by the systems we inhabit, the incentives we respond to, and the way people around us treat one another. Here's my conversation with Dr. Nir Halevy. Thank you for choosing Passion Struck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life that matters. Now, let that journey begin.

I am absolutely thrilled today to welcome Dr. Nir Halevy to Passion Struck. Nir, it's so great to have you on the show today.

Nir Halevy (4:32)

Thank you, John, for having me. I'm excited to be here.

John R. Miles (4:35)

Well, Nir, I want to go back to the beginning. You're a professor at Stanford, but what first drew you to studying human behavior, social influence, and the way people interact with one another?

Nir Halevy (4:45)

I think I've always been fascinated with social influence, just the way people interact in group settings. I remember being a teenager playing on a basketball team, just looking around, seeing how people shape each other's feelings, and thoughts, and behavior. And as I grew up getting to work in organizations, just seeing how people interact in negotiations, in faculty meetings, in other contexts. I'm constantly fascinated by how consumed we are by social comparisons, for example, how much attention we're paying to other kind of nonverbal behavior, and how that shapes how we think, feel, and act. I think I've always been so curious about social influence.