From Competition to Collaboration: A Shift That Changed How I Work 

A few years ago, I walked into a new project feeling confident—maybe a little too confident. 

I had done my homework. I knew the tech stack. I had solutions in mind even before the kickoff meeting began. I was eager to take charge, show initiative, and, if I’m honest, impress. In my mind, being competitive meant I was pushing the team forward. 

And initially, it worked. 

People looked to me for answers. My suggestions made it to the roadmap. I was the guy who “got things done.” But something started to shift quietly in the background. 

I began to notice people didn’t speak up as much in meetings. Ideas weren’t flowing freely anymore. Conversations became… functional. People agreed quickly—but not excitedly. I started feeling like I was moving fast, but alone. 

It took a single sentence from a colleague to hit the reset button in my head: 
“You’re really smart—but sometimes it feels like you’re trying to win, not build.” 

That stuck with me. 

I thought about it for days. Was I unintentionally creating walls instead of bridges? Was my drive to be the best preventing the team from doing its best? Slowly, I began to understand what was happening. My competitiveness—though well-intentioned—was creating distance. People felt guarded, cautious. Ideas were being protected instead of shared. And worst of all, I wasn’t even enjoying the work anymore. 

That’s when I made a shift. 

Instead of jumping in with the “right” answer, I started asking questions. I waited. I listened more. I gave space for other voices to rise. I started caring less about being right and more about getting it right—as a team. 

And things changed. 

Our discussions became more open, more thoughtful. People laughed more during meetings. We disagreed—constructively. We built things together. And I began to feel something I hadn’t felt in a while: genuine fulfillment. 

Collaboration, I realized, doesn’t mean holding back your skills. It means using them in service of something greater than yourself. 

There’s this misconception that being collaborative makes you less ambitious. But it’s the opposite. Collaboration multiplies impact. You move faster when others are with you—not behind you. 

If I could give my younger self one piece of advice, it would be this: 
Don’t aim to be the smartest person in the room. Aim to be the one who makes others smarter. 

Because when people feel safe, valued, and supported—they don’t just show up. They shine. And when that happens, everyone wins. 

So if you’re in that phase where you feel the need to compete—pause. Try being collaborative instead. It’s not always easy, but I promise: it’s far more rewarding.