When I was serving as a dean, I recall one occasion when a member of my faculty had spent months planning a major public event. Members of law enforcement came to our campus to conduct a training open to K-12 educators in our service area. The professor had used her contacts and spent her time planning much of the event. A vice-president came in toward the end of the project planning to work on the project with the faculty member, arranging for teacher education credit for the participants, ensuring that the event was well-attended. As the event wound down, the vice president sent a press release to our PR office, with the copy focusing solely on her involvement with the project.
Have you ever experienced this? You bust your behind working on a project only to have someone else claim your work or your team’s work as theirs?
Isn’t that frustrating?
Unfortunately, this happens a lot in the workplace.
It’s perfectly natural in such circ*mstances to feel betrayed. That kind of reaction is valid and reflects most people’s commitment to fairness. But what do you do about it?
I think it’s important to note that someone getting credit for work they didn’t do often occurs not because of some deliberate deceit, but because of misunderstandings and failures in communication. For example, when overseeing a project like reaccreditation, where many hands help in the process, it is painfully easy for someone not trained in project management to lose track of people’s contributions. Similarly, simple failures to communicate updates and changes in project roles can easily lead to some members’ contributions not being recognized.
One of the mid-level managers at my former institution was notorious for his failure to communicate. He kept meticulous records of things and could produce them when required to. He just rarely shared any of that information when he wasn’t forced to. When he led projects, almost everyone could guarantee that the Vice President and President would not get a full accounting of who did what. So that manager often ended up getting credit for work he had little involvement in. Recognizing that such misattributions are the result of breakdowns in communication can help you approach the situation a little more calmly. And remaining calm is the best thing you can do in such circ*mstances.
What Not to Do
Before I discuss concrete steps to take when handling this type of behavior, let’s talk briefly about what you absolutely should not do. First, avoid a public confrontation. As satisfying as this may seem in the moment, addressing the situation publicly will be counter-productive. This is a conversation that must be conducted in a more private setting. Second, don’t gossip. While it might be tempting to vent to coworkers, spreading the issue around the workplace can backfire, damaging your credibility. Lastly, don’t ignore the issue. Although many people would be tempted to let it slide or avoid confrontation, doing so will lead to repeat offenses, as was the case with the manager at my former institution.
OK. Now that we know what not to do, let’s take a quick look at what motivates people to engage in this behavior when it is done consciously and not as a result of poor communication or organization skills.
Motivations Behind the Phenomenon
Some people do it because of the organizational culture. Dozens of psychological studies have established that organizational cultures that tolerate or promote bad employer behavior affect the behaviors exhibited by lower-level employees and managers. An executive who gives credit for work only to loyalists or who herself takes credit for the work of her subordinates will encourage mid-level managers to do the same. The same is true for organizational cultures that promote highly competitive environments where executives pressure people to stand out to secure promotions and advancement. In these types of environments, one often finds an excessive emphasis on individual advancement over team collaboration and successful project outcomes.
Other people are driven by insecurity. These types of people usually have experiences in the workplace of being overshadowed or not getting due credit in the past. To compensate for such past experiences, those employees will pre-emptively claim credit to secure recognition, even if it means claiming more than their fair share or not correcting a manager’s misunderstandings of their levels of contribution to the overall effort.
Still others genuinely overestimate the amount of impact they had on a project. In larger or complex projects, it’s easy for people to overestimate the scope and depth of impact that they had on a project. Everyone possesses a self-serving bias, attributing positive outcomes to their own actions more than is objectively justified. Add to that the fact that human memory is fallible, and you have a truly lethal co*cktail. Simply because you remember more of your work than that of others, you tend to outsize the impact of it. Worse, this effect is compounded over time, as memories fade and internal summaries of events become less reliable.
And then there are those who, to borrow Bob Sutton ’s term, are simply a-holes. There are people in every workplace who are opportunists: They see an opportunity to gain an advantage and take it, regardless of fairness or ethical considerations. Others regard success as a zero-sum game: The more you have, the less I will. And still others simply lack empathy. They genuinely don’t care that you or your career are harmed by their behavior. Of all the types I mentioned, this last one is usually the most difficult for people to process. Unfortunately, I have seen this last one happen more times than I care to remember.
Each issue requires different responses. The level at which the person stealing credit from you also determines the type of response you need to have. Before getting into the special case studies, though, let me outline some practical things you should do in all cases.
Here's What to Do in Every Project
First, any time that you are working on a project—whether you call it a team, a task force, a committee, or “other duties as assigned”—keep track of it. I know this may seem extreme to a few readers, but it is good project management. Keep track of emails, meeting notes, project files, drafts, and any correspondence that highlights or tracks your contributions. Documenting your work not only provides evidence but clarifies your role when talking about your contributions with superiors or future hiring committees and wards off the effects of a waning memory over time.
Second, communicate regularly, seeking clarifications along the way. Participate in all team meetings and summarize your contributions in these meetings in your notes. What you remember later as a pivotal comment may not have actually been so. Whenever you experience ambiguity or lack of clarity, ask the project lead about it. Do it in the moment, if possible, so that everyone is on the same page at the meeting.
Third, at the end of the project, meet with the project lead and ask if you could summarize your contributions to the project to double-check your accuracy. Explain that you plan to include your summary in your resume, which you will later use for promotion and career advancement, and you want to be sure you have captured your contributions accurately.
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Peers who Claim Credit for Your Work
Let’s now consider how you should handle the situation if the person who is trying to take credit for your work is at your level organizationally. For example, in higher ed, faculty can try to usurp other faculty members’ contributions, or mid-level managers (e.g., chairs, deans, etc.) try to take credit for work done in other units of the university. If you’re dealing with someone at the same, or roughly the same, level as you are (or lower), ask for a mutually convenient meeting in a neutral space. For example, meet over coffee somewhere on campus where you can talk with one another without interruptions.
Start the conversation by affirming the value of the project and the other person’s role in it. Avoid sounding accusatory. Use “I” statements like, “I feel that my contributions to the project were not fully recognized in the (presentation, report, etc.). Bring the evidence that you have been collecting for reference, but do not hand it over to the other person to keep. Then discuss how you can ensure clearer communication in the future, reaffirming that you want your professional relationship with the person to continue. Even if you feel wronged, maintaining that professional relationship in the workplace is essential. Be sure to listen carefully as they share their side of the story. You never know what will come out.
As a dean, I leveraged a lot of contacts to bring in a high-ranking member of the FBI to my campus to review our Criminal Justice program and to deliver a keynote that was open to the public. My assistant and I and the head of the Criminal Justice program put in a lot of time and effort planning the visit for maximum impact and we advertised it to the hilt. The press release that went out had no mention of my school, attributing the visit instead to the work of the business dean. I reached out to the business dean, and he assured me that the public relations article had nothing to do with him. It was an assumption on the part of the person from our PR office who wrote the story.
If your discussions don’t lead to a resolution, or if the behavior continues, approach a mutual manager or HR representative who can help mediate the situation and clarify contributions without bias. Be sure to document all interactions since you may need evidence to demonstrate your good-faith efforts to resolve the situation amicably.
Superiors who Claim Credit for Your Work
Great! But what do you do when the person who tries to take credit for your work is someone higher in the organizational hierarchy, like my opening example indicated?
In this case, schedule a private meeting with the person, emphasizing your wish to discuss your recent contributions to a specific project. Start by expressing gratitude for the opportunity to work on the project and any guidance or support the person provided during the planning and execution phases of it. Without accusing the person of taking credit inappropriately, use “I” statements to convey how you feel. For example, “I believe there is some confusion about the level of my involvement.” As before, bring the evidence that you have been collecting for reference, but do not hand it over to the other person to keep. Shift the conversation toward how you can play a more clearly defined role in future projects and expressing your interest in taking on more responsibility or qualifying for higher-level positions within the organization. Listen to the supervisor’s perspective, bearing in mind what I wrote earlier—that a large, complex project may have so many moving parts that the person did not properly keep track of everyone’s contributions. After the meeting, send a thank you email that summarizes your conversation and reiterates your contributions.
If you don’t get the response that you deserve and you have double-checked your understanding of the scope and depth of your role with the project lead, reach out to mentors within the organization who can counsel you. You may also choose to speak with a representative of HR, especially if the situation does not improve at all or if you simply get brushed off.
When I was copied on the press release from the VP about the big event on campus, I wrote two sentences in response. “I’m sorry, but the end of the article must not have transferred through the email correctly. I don’t see any mention of so-and-so, and how they got the project off the ground.” I also posted a comment, congratulating both people for all their hard work and dedication to making the event a success when it was featured on our university’s social media feed.
Dealing with A-holes
Let’s consider two more scenarios. What happens if the person is one of Robert Sutton’s a-holes? How should you handle that?
You’ve met with the person and, through the interaction, you have realized that the person lacks empathy and displays purely self-serving behavior without regard for its impact on others. Make sure everything is documented and dated. In my experience, such people are rarely one-and-done types. Go directly to HR and have a conversation with a representative in the office, documenting everything. Often these people’s behavior will escalate. If the behavior violates company policies or ethical guidelines, the other person’s supervisor will be notified.
When I was a dean, two faculty members worked on implementing a new program curriculum in my school. It sailed through the faculty senate and was implemented, exceeding our expectations for enrollment. One of the faculty members left the university to pursue an administrative role elsewhere. We selected a new faculty member from a cognate field to work with the existing faculty member who had created the program. Initially, all went well. But one semester, the new faculty member decided to “pull rank” on the other person and tried to tell the other faculty member how the courses should be conducted. The established faculty member tried to explain that she was a certified expert in the subject matter. But the new faculty member would have none of it. The established faculty member went to HR and had a conversation. Before HR could even act, alerting me to the problem, the new faculty member began creating a toxic environment for the established faculty member. The established faculty member filed a grievance, and we dealt with the issue swiftly.
It bears repeating, a-holes genuinely don’t care that you or your career are harmed by their behavior. Of all the types you will encounter in your workplace, this one is the most difficult for people to process. Most of us have brains that don’t work that way, so we never will understand that mode of living. Managers and executives simply need to deal with that kind of employee swiftly and unequivocally.
When the Problem is Organizational Culture
That leads me to the last scenario. What happens if the overall organizational culture is the problem? For example, I have encountered situations where HR would love to address issues, but cronyism or favoritism by executives keep their hands tied. In this type of situation, look for allies who might be in higher positions or who have faced similar issues. Sometimes, having support from within can push for change faster than going it alone. I would also recommend consulting a labor attorney or external HR advisor who will understand your rights and options in your particular organizational context. Lastly, if the culture is that deeply flawed, it’s probably time for a move elsewhere. Seeking employment in a more ethical and supportive environment is the best move for your career and your well-being.
To handle a problem like someone taking credit for work they didn’t do, you need resilience, consistent communication skills, and a willingness to advocate for yourself. By understanding the motivations behind this behavior and proactively addressing someone stealing credit from you or your team, you uphold your integrity and contribute to a positive work environment where collaboration and mutual respect thrive.
Remember, although you cannot control others’ actions, you have the power to shape your response when things like this happen.
And when enough people realize this, we move beyond adapting to the culture we are given to actively co-creating the culture we deserve.
c. 2024, Alfred G. Mueller II
