[Flash] Embrace Professional Jealousy – Advice from Knopf Editor

Along the way, people warned her, “You will be jealous of your writers.” 

And they were right. She was. She wanted her writers’ experience, their authorship journey.

But in a recent interview, Jenny shared her take on professional jealousy:

“I’ve come to regard professional jealousy as something a lot more positive than personal jealousy. I don’t think personal jealousy is a useful emotion.”

An intriguing distinction: viewing professional jealousy as a productive emotion.

“I think professional jealousy can be really useful because it can tell you what you want. If you see somebody getting success or speaking to some prestigious group or writing a TV show and you feel jealous, consider, is that something you want to be doing?” 

“I do sometimes feel jealous, and I try and listen to that as information about what I could try next.” 

She paid attention to that professional jealousy. In 2023, Jenny published her first book, Pineapple Street, and released her second, The Shampoo Effect, this year.

When I was a corporate attorney in Silicon Valley, I was never jealous of my clients… until I was assigned my first woman entrepreneur. I distinctly remember envying her position as founder of her own start-up.

What I didn’t realize was that watching that client lead her business sparked a future path in me, one I hadn’t even considered until I worked with her. Witnessing her success fueled possibility… is that something I want to be doing?

In a world where we are constantly comparing ourselves to others in our orbit or on social media, Jenny’s approach is an empowering barometer… a way to mobilize our envy energy into reflection and action.

The adage, “Comparison is the thief of joy,” is often said with resignation, as if acknowledging someone’s accomplishments somehow diminishes our own.

What if comparison serves not to size up the competition but to gauge our interest in someone’s work instead?

With this perspective, we can transform any rival into a role model mentor. Their success no longer threatening but informing us, sparking our growth!

Editor Jenny earnestly concluded, “I hope that I continue to find other people I feel jealous of.”

In other words, eagerly leaning into professional jealousy can help us unlock what’s next.

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