Emerging Leaders: When colleague takes credit for your work

Has this ever happened to you? You're in a meeting and the unthinkable happens - a colleague claims credit for your work.

As you reel from the shock of what just occurred, your self-talk goes into overdrive. 'How dare they. The audacity,” you say to yourself.

But in the time it takes to come to grips with what just happened, the moment passes. The team moves on. The time for speaking up and publicly correcting the 'mistake” has passed.

Everyone 'knows” who owned the accomplishment, and it's not you.

There's really only one surefire method of preventing this from happening, and it is to pre-emptively, publicly, claim credit for everything you do.

In a recent keynote speech for Executive Women International at its Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Fawn Germer said, 'If you don't take credit for what you do, it is likely that someone else will.”

To be realistic, though, I understand why you may not be comfortable with publicly claiming credit for the work you do. We've all worked with someone who overdid it and was always bragging about his or her achievements.

But consider the consequences of remaining silent: Unscrupulous colleagues can seize the opportunity to claim credit because you'd left it sitting on the table as if it were there for the taking.

So mark each major milestone by taking action to attach your name to the result. For example, make an announcement in a meeting or by email such as, 'Team, I just completed the financial modeling for this quarter and have begun work on next quarter. If you'd like have questions or would like to discuss the results or methodology, please let me know.”

In theory, doing this consistently should shut down the likelihood of a colleague claiming credit. But, of course, in the real world one might still slip through. If so, how should you respond?

Whatever you do, don't let the moment pass. If you feel flustered, try not to let it show.

Smile, and aim to speak with warmth and authority in equal measure, and say, 'To clear up any misunderstanding, what Kevin is trying to explain is that we collaborated on this effort. He led the initial data gathering, while I devised the methodology and performed the analysis.”

Why say it was a collaboration, even if it wasn't? It is to help Kevin save face with the team because the real conversation will take place with him privately, later. If you thrown him under the bus now, you can forget about having reasonable conversation later.

Later, in a private conversation, tell Kevin that you won't hesitate in future to praise him publicly for his contributions. Then with a tone of pure authority, say, 'But if you claim credit for my work again, I will set the record straight. Is that clear?”

In her speech, Fawn Germer also said, 'Don't avoid uncomfortable conversations. They take between five and 15 minutes,” and often a lot less. A short, uncomfortable conversation ultimately can be far less stressful than working in a team where credit and praise are unfairly given and taken.

' Jo Miller is founding editor of BeLeaderly.com and CEO of Women's Leadership Coaching Inc. Twitter handle: @jo_miller