Stop being an overachiever

Singapore

IT'S a good thing to be seen as capable and reliable at work. But when taken to the extreme, it can saddle an overachieving employee with extra work and unfair expectations, while less proficient colleagues cruise along for the same pay.

This is increasingly backed by research which found that people do, in fact, assign more work to workers who are perceived as more competent, in a paper titled The burden of responsibility: Interpersonal costs of high self-control.

In moments of crisis, these are the people co-workers turn to. Findings suggest that overachievers are not happy with this dynamic either, experiencing greater stress and tension with their team.

While burnout and strained relationships are not surprising, a more insidious consequence is that it can also limit one's career progression. For example, managers may be reluctant to promote overachieving workers because they have become "indispens…