Are You Spending More Time Covering Yourself (CYA) Than Doing Your Actual Job?

By Emily - Mindful Career Journey

A friend of mine recently reached out, completely frustrated.

He’d been following up diligently on a new client onboarding for months, a deal that involved customized development within a tight timeframe and it was dependent upon his colleague for the development work.  As the deadline approached and status updates were being provided, his colleague sent an email to leadership and the entire team saying this was the first time he was hearing of the request.

Total sabotage.

No heads-up.  No clarification.  Just a well-crafted “not my fault” message that threw my friend under the bus.

The company was suddenly at risk of losing not just this client, but future business. 

You can just imagine how my friend felt.  He spent the next few days in fury, replaying it in his head, scrambling to repair the damage and defend his reputation.

The worst part? This isn’t uncommon.

When the workplace feels more like a chessboard than a team, the stress adds up fast.

High-performing professionals are not only burnt out due to the workload, but also due to nonsense and office politics.  

When you’re constantly protecting yourself from sabotage instead of doing actual work, it creates unnecessary stress and extra work:

📌 You’re over-preparing for meetings so nothing gets twisted

📌 Keeping tabs on everything since you’ve been burned before

📌 BCC’ing your own inbox "just in case"

📌 Documenting and sending a follow-up email recapping after a conversation

📌 Second-guessing whether your idea will be used against you later

It’s exhausting, and it chips away at your confidence, creativity, and well-being.

The truth is:

You deserve to do your best work without being in fight-or-flight mode everyday.