>>The best friends I’ve made at work have usually been in non-competitive departments. Best friendships I've made at work especially with my managers, in my ow

>>The best friends I’ve made at work have usually been in non-competitive departments. Best friendships I've made at work especially with my managers, in my own teams, have happened when I have openly announced I'm not competing for their position/job. Merely making this clear has made me more friends. People just don't like to see other people do well, even more so when people are working to take their own position. That few shitty years I had at work early career often were due to seniors finding books at my desk, or watching me work like mad on side projects, or delivering and speaking a lot during meetings. That's akin to announcing to them they must screw you to save their own jobs. Nothing good happens from there as groups of powerful people mark you up as your enemy and have to get rid of you for their collective good. The people who got promoted are often those who pretend to be harmlessly inert but are scheming and working behind people's back to get promoted and take top positions. Only last year, a junior I know got a manager fired and took his job, much to the shock of the manager, he eventually learned the junior had been working over an year and bypassing him, talking to managers above, convincing them he could do the job et al. The manager who got fired is struggling from months to find a new job. Long story short, speak as little as you can, avoid showing off your skills at work, don't appear aggressive, threatening or intimidating. Act totally harmless and inert, but work with people above for your progress. Career growth rarely comes from good performance, its almost always because of interpersonal relationships.