No-one likes having someone else take the credit for all their hard work – but it’s tricky to know what to do about it. Jobs Guru James Innes is here with some advice
A colleague has developed an irritating habit of taking ideas I’ve raised and presenting them later as though they were entirely his own. ‘Taking credit for other people’s work’.
I know everyone has experienced this but, with him, it’s really bad. Sometimes he repeats them in meetings. Sometimes they reappear in an email to our manager. And he never mentions me!
I really feel like I’m being taken advantage of. How do I make sure I receive proper credit without starting a childish argument about who said what first? It’s a political minefield.
Eleise, Edinburgh
More than irritating! But, no, I wouldn’t launch immediately into an accusation of intellectual theft.
Start by making your contribution harder to detach from you. Put ideas in emails, meeting notes or project documents. After a discussion, send a summary. Nothing pompous. Just a paper trail.
In meetings, speak up when it happens. “Yes, that’s the point I raised earlier. I think the next step would be…” You can reclaim the idea without turning it into a playground brawl.
If your colleague does it repeatedly, then it might be worth speaking to them privately. “A couple of times recently, I’ve raised an idea and later heard you present it without mentioning my involvement and I’d appreciate us being clearer about where our contributions come from.”
They may bluster, deny it or claim they thought they were merely developing the discussion. Fine. You’ve still warned them that you’ve noticed.
If it continues, raise it with your manager using examples and focusing on accurate recognition, not the colleague’s dreadful character. You want credit for your work, not a starring role in an office feud.
Top Tip:
Create a careful paper trail for your ideas so that you can confidently reclaim them when necessary.
Spotlight On: Credit where credit’s due
People don’t always steal ideas with a twirl of the moustache.
Sometimes they genuinely forget who said what. Sometimes they repeat a half-formed suggestion after improving it. But sometimes, of course, they know exactly what they’re doing.
Correct the record in the room, while the subject is still alive. Wait three weeks and you’ll be trying to prove ownership of a conversation nobody else remembers.
A calm “Yes, building on the suggestion I made earlier…” will often do the job. So will circulating your own short meeting summary afterwards. (That was a favourite of mine, early on in my career!)
You’re not branding every passing thought with your initials. You’re making sure that a repeated pattern doesn’t become the accepted version of events, with your colleague taking all of your credit for you.
Get a head start in your job hunt with James’ new book, The Job You’ve Always Wanted – out now from Pearson at £16.99.
Our Jobs Guru, James Innes, is a best-selling careers author and founder of the world’s leading group of professional CV and resume writers .