Why Having the Right “Enemies” Can Benefit You

This article aims to hit on two things surrounding the subject of adopting enemies in order to further yourself toward your goals.

The word, “enemies,” will be used to represent those who serve to oppose someone else’s personal desires / needs in a forceful manner. The desires / needs they oppose can be related to business, politics, or everyday social interaction. Enemies develop when their battle for what they desire / need negatively affects what we do.

Though the ideas in this article can seem to be encouraging of malicious behavior, they are presented for the sole purpose of bringing benefit to society. It is this article’s mere hope, that the enemies you adopt are those who are ethically worthy of defeating. Though it is this article’s main point of focus, the personal benefits you derive from the strategic selection of enemies should be secondary in your hierarchy of deciding factors on the matter.

The act of improving your reputation in the eyes of another individual is about doing and saying the things they perceive to be correct. The perception of the people you seek to influence may differ from what others deem to be correct. Depending on the case at hand, it may sometimes be strategic to align yourself with someone who shares views which are subject to being disagreed with by others. Just like adopting the goals of a team when you join it, adopting the enemies of those who you team up with may be a necessity in your pursuit to achieve the specific goals you’ve set for yourself.

The first point this article will focus on, is the act of adopting the enemies of those who you team up with and the nuances around that which serve to benefit you. The second, will be limiting the negative consequences of adopting the enemies of those you seek to team up with.

 


The Strategic Adoption of Enemies


On the surface, adopting the enemies of those who can propel you toward your goals is a simple matter. You may be inclined to share the same unfavorable opinions about another department at work if your manager voices those opinions. Aligning yourself with your manager’s “enemies” can improve their perception of you being a loyal worker. They may consider you to be a reliable member of the team you’re on, should they see that they can trust you in being a proponent of the same ideas that they hold.

The effects of sharing the same “enemies” as people who can have an effect on your success differ based on the specifics of the relationship you’re in. In general though, the sharing of enemies is akin to an initiation into a secret space of someone’s mind. The effects your act of strategically adopting the same enemies as those you want to positively influence compares to loving the same people they love.

You’ll serve to develop a stronger sense of community with the people whose enemies you adopt. They will have reason to trust your opinions going forward as they consistently refer back to you sharing the same opinions as they do about people they don’t like. Sharing the same enemies as someone else is thereby a kind of insurance policy for the validity of your ideas in their mind.

Those who agree with our negative opinions about someone else are generally regarded favorably in our perception. They serve to strengthen our own opinion and give it health by way of agreeing with it. The development and management of enemies is an emotionally charged domain.

Your act of backing people on the enemies they develop attaches itself to an emotional part of the relationship you maintain with those whose enemies you adopt. You’ll be likelier to surpass the label of a mere acquaintance, and your chances of becoming a loyal friend will grow.

 


Limiting the Consequences of Adopting Similar Enemies to Those Who You Respect


As mentioned earlier on in the article, being ethically considerate in your strategic adoption of enemies is vitally important. It is important because the people you align your views with may be defeated by the enemies which they possess. You can be left on your own in a battle against the enemies you’ve adopted in order to improve your respective hierarchical position earlier.

Managers switch jobs, leaders get voted out, and authoritative figures can lose the power which they hold. A strong ethical foundation for the adoption of enemies will ensure that you maintain a focus and reason for fighting when those you seek to impress fall out of the battle which they started.

In your journey to get in cahoots with those whose enemies you adopt, ensure that you disagree with, disprove, and combat the ideas of your enemies, and not your enemies themselves. Operate with respect in your journey to defeat those who are owners of ideas dangerous to you, and to the people you view as your authority figures.

Attack their ideas, their methods, and their reasons. Do not attack, in any form, the people themselves. Operating with a sense of respect for the people your authority figure calls their enemies will serve to protect you from any attacks those enemies may perform on you, rather than your ideas, going forward.

The adoption of mutual enemies, does not entail becoming a blind follower of the people whose enemies you adopt. Your act of teaming up with someone in an effort to combat the ideas of a third party, entails bringing your own strategy, ideas, and methodology to the table. Do not be apprehensive in voicing times when your enemies win small battles in the midst of the war you’re in.

Attempt to be a voice of reason within your camp, and be quick to give credit when credit is due. In doing so, you’d be able to point back to an honest track record should your enemies defeat the team you’re on. It’ll have an effect of muffling the repercussions, if there are any, in going against those who go on to win.


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Disclaimer of Opinion: This article is presented only as opinion. It does not make any scientific, factual, or legal claims. Please critically analyze all claims made and independently decide on its validity.