They display defensive body language (folding their arms or glazing over you when you talk). They do not smile around you, turn their back when they see you walk past, or maintain poor eye contact. They do not acknowledge your presence in meetings and rarely approach you with work-related questions.
What is a Toxic Coworker? A toxic coworker creates havoc for everyone around them at work. The person might be adding more work onto others, displaying rude behavior, or simply not doing their share of the workload. Fortunately, toxic coworkers are not all bad; sometimes, they're just having an off day.
Insecurity at work is commonly seen as a personal foible, associated with imposter syndrome. Sometimes it's linked with ambition and overwork — as in the case of people labeled insecure overachievers.
How do you know if a coworker is trying to sabotage you?
They force you to do additional work
It might be hard to spot at first, but consider watching how they give others tasks versus how you're asked to complete a task. If you find yourself constantly bogged down with additional red tape that others don't seem to have to deal with, your coworker may be sabotaging you.
So it's important that your boss or manager knows about these situations when they occur. ... Here are options for informing your manager about what's going on at work:
If the person engages with you, be polite but aim to extricate yourself as soon as you can. Listen to complaints briefly – say a minute or two. And then say, “I'm so sorry, but I need to get (something) done.” Or, “I'm sorry; I'm late to a meeting.” (Never lie; if you have no meeting, go with the “get something done.”)
Patronizing people talk down to you. Their goal is to feel superior at your expense, resulting in you feeling belittled and inferior. You need a good game plan to defend against this type of behavior—or else your self-confidence is going to take a big hit.
By definition, an insecure person is a person who feels shy or uncertain around others and lacks confidence or self-assurance. Despite attempts by themselves and others, insecure people often find it difficult to feel good around others. Face to face contact or communication may cause them to feel uneasy.
