You’ve done the research, had a great idea, and worked hard to make it a success. However, when the time comes to address the achievement with others in the organization, your boss takes the credit!
You’ve done the research, had a great idea, and worked hard to make it a success. However, when the time comes to address the achievement with others in the organization, your boss takes the credit! They could neglect to mention your efforts at all, or say your name briefly during the conversation (without letting everyone know how deeply you were involved). This experience can be shocking. You might feel angry, disappointed, and deflated. Many life science professionals start to wonder, ‘how could they do this to me?’
What’s even worse is if your boss has a history of this type of behavior. A lot of professionals can even begin to expect this treatment and become numb to it. If your boss or manager has stolen an idea or taken credit for your contributions in some other way, the first thing to remember is this situation says more about them, than it does about you. Previously, we’ve gone over what it really means for you in the workplace. With these circumstances in mind, it’s time to address the elephant in the room.
Relax and remain calm
It’s easy to get upset or carried away in front of others when your manager has purposefully taken credit for your work. Resist that urge and remain calm. If you explode or cause a public scene, that could be damaging to your reputation. Relaxing in front of the group also maintains your sense of professionalism. Due to the organizational hierarchy involved, if your boss is openly challenged or exposed, they could begin to sabotage or undermine your job efforts. When dealing with a manager who has a tendency to overstate their personal achievements, you must be cautious in your actions to preserve your job security.
Talk to them privately
At the next available opportunity, you want to schedule a private meeting with your boss. Ideally, you want to get at least thirty minutes of their time blocked off to speak with you face to face. During the meeting you want to start off with any positive acknowledgement of their help with the idea or project. If they provided some additional support, time, or resources thank them for that. Then, you want to do a brief overview of your thoughts, actions, or work on the project. Be sure to highlight all of the positive results you were responsible for. Next, transition into the company meeting, group email, or specific occurrence when they took the credit. You might say something like, “When the project was being discussed with a wider group, I noticed that my contribution wasn’t mentioned (or barely recognized). Why was that the case?” Give them time to respond.
Create a plan to protect your ideas
Regardless of your boss’ response or acceptance of any wrongdoing, you need a plan to protect your ideas. You can’t control how they might act or behave. Your performance reviews, promotions, salary, and career progression in that organization depend on others seeing you as a valuable asset. If your company doesn’t have a system for submitting new ideas, consider talking to others (in Operations, Administration, or Human Resources) about creating a “suggestion box” or contests to generate ideas. The key here is to be genuine in these conversations. You don’t want to seem negative or like you’re going around your boss. Finally, you might decide to keep your best ideas to yourself until you’re in a very public forum (like a department or company meeting), so they can be properly attributed to you.
Start forming a paper trail
Begin recording specific discussions via email, so you always have a record. If your boss constantly calls you directly about ideas they could possibly steal, give them vague responses and ask to think about it. Then, you can respond to them via email directly (and possibly copy any other people on your team or included on the project to the email as witnesses). Keep private, detailed notes and records for your self at all times. Another tactic is to provide a brief recap at the beginning of your emails reminding your boss that you are the originator of an idea. Create a special folder in your inbox and save all pertinent emails there to keep up with important information.
Theft of your ideas or your boss taking credit for your work can be disempowering and frustrating. Many people even start feeling stuck and stifled in their role. Remaining calm during the incident and talking to your manager privately are first steps. Moving forward, you want to develop a plan to protect your ideas and accomplishments, so they can be rightfully aligned with you. Having a solid paper trail of your work and information can also provide evidence of your contributions.
Reference: Rift in the Workplace: What it Really Means When Someone Else Takes Credit for Your Work
Porschia Parker is a Certified Coach, Professional Resume Writer, and Founder of Fly High Coaching. She empowers ambitious professionals and motivated executives to add $10K on average to their salaries.
