This is so obvious to me. Climbing the ladder at a company can be done purely by lifting yourself and those around you up. But often I see it achieved through

This is so obvious to me. Climbing the ladder at a company can be done purely by lifting yourself and those around you up. But often I see it achieved through a mix of of putting down others as well. Bullies get more skilled at their craft with age. Managers that "run a tight ship" often operate by instilling fear. Either through fear of being fired or fear of not being promoted, or maybe the manager publicly shames folks in an open office and employees are afraid of the embarrassment. Regardless, those that "run a tight ship" often get noticed by upper management and get promotions. For those not on the manager track the name of the game is sandbagging. Instead of being a team player, these folks strategically withhold information from you. Maybe they want to look smarter in the meeting, maybe they want to see you fail, for whatever reason they are uninterested in helping their teammate..