How to Get Credit for Your Work

“Joel’s coaching focuses on effective ways to communicate your value and contribution to leadership. If you ever wondered why you are not receiving due recognition for your work and value to the company, this program is definitely for you.”

Rick Esker, Director, Mobility Alliances Group, CISCO SYSTEMS

Getting credit for your work is not always easy. You can do great work, but if no one knows you were responsible for the outstanding results, you won’t get recognized. The key to getting credit for your accomplishments is doing an effective job at promoting yourself and letting other people know what you did. This includes the work you completed, the projects you contributed to, and the beneficial ideas that you came up with.

If you don’t do this proactively, you’re leaving the door wide open for others to intentionally or unintentionally steal credit. “What motivates people to do this?” you ask. There are two types of people who take credit for others’ work. The first is the person who takes all the credit at the very last minute even though he or she did minimal work. In truth, you were the one who did almost all of the work over a long period of time, but they were able to get credit at the very end for sweeping in at the eleventh hour. The second type is the person who takes more credit even though they didn’t do any more of the work than you. They are basically better at taking credit than you are. In some cases, because they’re more well-known or gregarious than you, others may give them the spotlight—and this person then fails to invite you in.

People who steal credit can create the perception that they did all the work and are the geniuses behind a project when this isn’t the case. The problem is that perception becomes the reality among decision-makers, and it’s difficult to change perception once it has been established.

Let’s look at seven ways to proactively take credit for your work before anyone tries to snatch it away from you. Then, we’ll shift into damage control—how to mitigate the situation if someone has already stolen credit.

Seven Ways to Get Credit for Your Work

One of the primary reasons people often don’t get credit for their work is that they are working behind the scenes and are reluctant to “toot their own horn.” Often, other people take credit when credit isn’t due to them. This is a common practice in the competitive corporate world. To prevent this from happening, you have to be responsible for launching your own public relations campaign.

These strategies will not only help you avoid the common problem of credit theft; they’ll also make you more visible in your organization. By expanding your reputation and influence, they’ll make you much less vulnerable to credit thieves.

1 – Be proactive in exerting your influence.

There’s a difference between bragging and keeping others informed of your contributions. People are often too passive and timid to share their talents, impact, and accomplishments. This leaves the door open for others to take credit when it’s actually theirs.

2 – Project yourself as an authority and someone in the know.

Trust yourself and your knowledge so you can share it openly with others. People will respect this knowledge capital and will come to rely on your wisdom, advice, and input. This involvement will make you a key catalyst to the success of a project.

3 – Let others know what you have done.

Share specific details about what you have done to make a project a success. Not just the bottom-line results, but your ideas and what you did every step of the way to bring it to fruition. If you remain silent, others will step in and claim responsibility for your work. If you’re worried about sounding like you’re bragging, tell a story about a challenge you faced and how you overcame it. That’s a wonderful way to embrace your vulnerability while showing how you ultimately came out on top.

4 – Make your contribution completely visible.

Look for opportunities to present your ideas so others will appreciate what you know and the work you have done. Prepare ideas about agenda topics prior to meetings, so you can add more value on the spot. Chime in when you hear colleagues talking about a project that could benefit from your expertise. This type of visibility directly shapes how others are viewing you and your value to the organization.

5 – Seek out projects you can own.

These projects can be small or big. The key is to completely own them so that your name can be on them, front and center. You’re the one responsible, the one in charge. Even if the responsibility seems too great and you fear you might fail, get out of your comfort zone and take ownership.

6 – Don’t hide behind the scenes.

It may seem like the safest place to be is behind the scenes because if a project fails, your name won’t be attached to it. However, you want to be on the forefront so you can truly excel.

7 – Encourage your supervisor to give you projects that challenge you.

This will help you to grow your capabilities, gain experience, assume more responsibility, and position yourself for additional leadership opportunities.

Take action now! Identify one or two upcoming projects—or ideas you can pitch—and develop strategies to assume ownership of them. Once you begin the work, give others a periodic progress report. And when you are successful—and you will be—take credit where credit is due. And of course, give credit to those working in supporting roles to promote a culture of sharing credit with integrity.

Remember, by taking credit for your ideas and accomplishments, you’re not boasting—you’re just stating the facts of what you’ve done and its impact. Be straightforward and specific when describing what you’ve done, and be sure to mention the contributions of others! It’s difficult for someone else to take credit once others associate your name with the contributions that made the project a success.

“But what if someone has already taken credit for my work?” you ask. “Or what if on the way to becoming more visible, someone takes credit for my ideas?” That’s what we’re going to address in the next section.

What to Do When Someone is Taking Credit for Others Work

Sofia was floored when during a team meeting, her coworker stood up to present a project they’d been working on together. They hadn’t planned to share their results until the following week. Using materials she’d helped to create, he described it as his project and announced his results. What should I do? Sofia thought frantically. 

Have you ever worked tirelessly to produce a report or a presentation, only to have a collaborator claim the limelight? You’re not alone. Nothing is more demotivating than having someone take credit for your work. We all know that being recognized for our contributions is crucial to career advancement, bringing benefits like the following:

1. Establishing your worth and value to others.
2. Bringing you more rewarding projects and greater job satisfaction.
3. Helping you earn a promotion.

We’re going to tackle how to handle several tough situations involving the theft of credit, so you can move forward with grace, composure, and recognition for your work. If one of your coworkers keeps reframing your ideas as his own at meetings, or if your colleague went so far as to present your strategy to your boss, you need to take action. Avoiding conflict in such scenarios would harm the whole team. Tread carefully, though, or you could end up accused of stealing credit from others!

Here’s how to handle some common scenarios in which others try to take credit for your work, using key principles for getting results from difficult conversations. 

If someone rephrases your ideas as his own…

If a coworker is continually restating points you have made at a meeting and framing them as his own, he might be doing it unconsciously. That doesn’t mean it’s okay, but it helps inform how you should respond.

• Before saying anything, calm down. Losing your temper could make you look irrational—fair or not. Plus, you won’t get your thoughts across clearly if you’re angry.

• Address the transgression tactfully but directly in the moment, if possible. For example, if a coworker restates your idea, say, “Yes, that’s exactly the point I was making. I’m glad you agree with the idea.”

• If it keeps happening, approach the person one-on-one and ask if you can talk with him. Remember, if someone is repeatedly claiming your ideas as their own, it’s probably a sign of insecurity—so be gentle, or you’ll put him on the defensive. Affirm that you fully believe it wasn’t intentional, and validate the person’s contributions so acknowledging his mistake won’t feel as hard. For instance, you might say: “I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, but a couple of times during the meeting, I felt you were framing X idea as your own when I introduced it earlier on. I’m happy that this idea resonated with you, because I appreciate the expertise you bring and would love to get your insight on similar ideas in the future.”

• If the issue keeps occurring, mention it during a one-on-one meeting with your boss. Focus on your desire to strengthen working relationships, stick to the facts, and maintain a positive tone. “I think Coworker Y has many strengths, and I hope he’ll become secure enough in his own ideas that he doesn’t unconsciously lay claim to those of others,” you might say.

If a peer presents your idea or success as her own…

Say you believe a coworker has stolen your idea outright and presented it to your boss or team as her own. Or, say your coworker took credit for your work on a big project. You don’t want to look like a pushover by letting it go, but you don’t want to obsess so much about the transgression that you look irrational or insecure.

• Again, calm yourself down before taking any action so you’re fully in control of your words. Showing your emotional intelligence will boost your credibility. The last thing you want is to appear irate and unreasonable.

• Tactfully approach the person who unfairly took credit and ask why she didn’t mention your name in the presentation. Try to find out if there’s any way it could have been unintentional. Maybe you were brainstorming together and she inaccurately remembered the idea as being her own. Talk with her one-on-one, and phrase your question in a non-accusatory way. Ask her to share the visibility with you, emphasizing that you want to have a mutually supportive relationship. Give her a chance to apologize, but if she doesn’t, push back, says Karen Dillon in HR Guide to Office Politics. Making it uncomfortable for her to continue the behavior will deter it from happening again.

• Get support from other team members, if others know for certain that the idea was yours. Ask them to acknowledge your contribution in the next meeting, or in a team email. If a colleague thanks you for your role in making the project happen in front of your boss and other coworkers, that may help shift the narrative. You can also ask supportive colleagues to ask you questions about your project at the next meeting. If the coworker at fault sees you have support, she may back down.

• Send a follow-up email thanking everyone for listening to the presentation and sharing appreciation for your team, if a colleague has presented the project as his own doing. That’s a subtle way of claiming ownership of the endeavor.

• If the offense was truly egregious—for example, if a coworker took your name off a presentation you created and presented it as her own—meet with your boss to explain what happened, sharing evidence to support your case.

• If the pattern continues, consider letting your boss know about it. Keep your language neutral and stay brief, rather than ranting in a negative tone about your colleague. Stick to the facts, and you’ll present yourself as levelheaded and credible.

Giving the other person the benefit of the doubt by acknowledging that it could have been an accident will make her less likely to react defensively. Again, in some cases, it may truly have been an accident—the coworker could have just been nervous while presenting to the group, causing her to leave out some key points.

If someone repeatedly takes credit for your work… 

• Keep a log showing details about what happened and when.

• Find out if colleagues have experienced the same behavior from this coworker. Gather your evidence of the transgressions.

• Talk to your boss about the situation, along with any other coworkers who have been affected. Stay collected and share evidence, if you have it. Rather than badmouthing the coworker at fault, focus on your desire to feel heard and to create a harmonious office dynamic.

• Help create a culture of sharing credit by always highlighting the contributions of others.

If your boss takes credit for your work…

You need to carefully weigh the benefits of speaking up versus the potential negative impacts of doing so. The last thing you want to do is alienate your boss. Furthermore, if your boss is genuinely supportive of you, consider whether it’s possible that she simply expanded on your idea and forgot where it originally came from. It’s also possible that your boss believes the whole team will get more recognition if her superiors think the idea came from her, as The Wall Street Journal writes in “Hey, That’s My Idea! When Your Boss Steals Your Work.” Has she shared credit after a project succeeded in the past, even if she presented it as her idea to get the go-ahead upfront? Consider whether your boss is giving you opportunities in turn, the authors suggest.

If you see a pattern of this behavior, or if your boss took credit for a high-profile project that could play a pivotal role in your career, it may be time to speak up. Tread cautiously; making your boss feel defensive is a sure form of self-sabotage. Within a larger conversation about your career, mention how much you feel you could benefit from visibility for the project, WSJ suggests. That way, you’re not directly accusing your boss of anything; rather, you’re enlisting her help as an advocate.

Remember, too, that one idea isn’t everything. You’ll have other great ideas, and you can be more conscientious about how to share them in the future. Don’t fixate so much on remedying this issue that it keeps you from shining in other ways, or makes you look petty. Start brewing up fresh ideas and look for new ways to increase your visibility. If you focus on the future, others will notice your stellar performance and give you plenty of credit for it!

How to Guard Against Credit Theft 

Although Alberto was young, his sharp thinking abilities helped him advance to the role of team leader quickly. However, when it came to proposing new ideas to upper management, Alberto felt reluctant. He wasn’t sure if his ideas were “good enough.” So, he turned to one of the senior colleagues on his team to get feedback on some of the things he was working on. He was quite taken aback when the coworker he’d just confided in pitched some of his ideas at the next company meeting without giving Alberto any credit for his work.

Alberto’s ideas were not only well received, but one of them actually got the green light from their boss.

Overcome with frustration, Alberto spoke to his coworker but wasn’t getting anywhere. He then approached his boss in private once he’d calmed down, since they had a good rapport. He kept his composure and simply related the key facts. It turned out that the same coworker had done similar things in the past, and his boss believed Alberto’s side of the story. The project went forward as planned, and Alberto was given leadership of it.

Alberto didn’t stop there, though—he devised a plan to guard against the theft of credit. Follow these key tips starting in the early stages of project development, and you’ll be far less likely to find yourself in this situation again:

Create a paper trail that shows your role in the project.

Strive to prevent theft of your ideas and work by documenting them well. Make it easy to prove that you spearheaded a project or came up with an idea by leaving a clear trail of evidence. Email your boss and colleagues to present your ideas in writing, perhaps CCing more than one individual on a thread so that no one person can act as though it’s your word against theirs. Take careful notes to log your ideas as you flesh out your project plan. Deliver written reports to your superiors to show your progress or outline the final project outcomes.

When sending out emails, copy people directly involved with the project regarding project updates, ideas, deadlines, and more. Be careful not to overdo this; you don’t want to flood inboxes or annoy people. Alberto added his own signature and copied his boss on project updates or timelines he emailed out to the team. He only copied senior managers on ideas he felt were critically important and deserved their attention.

1 – Avoid sharing ideas one-on-one.

Unless you really trust a colleague, don’t sit down with him for a one-on-one conversation about your next big idea. Someone can more easily take credit for your ideas and work when you don’t have another witness to establish they came from you. Instead, you might chat with two colleagues at the same time, to establish a means of accountability.

2 – Give credit to others.

You’ll establish yourself as more credible when you claim credit for an idea if you’re frequently sharing credit with others. Share praise for colleagues, direct reports, and leaders when their projects succeed or they voice a promising idea.

Once you become well-known for having particular skills and knowledge, it will become even more difficult for someone else to claim credit for your work. As you build your personal brand and expand your sphere of influence, others will naturally associate you with the particular kinds of contributions you make. And hopefully, as you continue to set a good example by sharing credit where it’s due, they’ll take your lead!

3 – Leverage your advocates.

Building positive relationships with superiors, particularly those willing to advocate for you, will help ensure you get the credit you deserve. Building a strong connection with someone you can trust, preferably up the ranks, can help you immensely. Alberto befriended a senior executive who served as the lead on one of his projects. Always being respectful of his advocate’s time, Alberto bounced ideas off her and elicited her advice before presenting ideas to his own bosses and team.

Alberto learned valuable lessons from the experience of having someone take credit for his work. He learned that it’s his responsibility to get out there, share his ideas, and gain visibility. There’s no gain without risk. He also learned how important it is to create a credit-sharing culture in the workplace and give recognition and praise where it’s due. Like Alberto, if you find yourself dealing with a tough situation, know that you can correct course in the future.

Maintain your composure and follow the advice shared here to bring about the best possible outcome. As your visibility and influence grow, you’ll have no trouble getting credit for your great work!