Taking Your Credit: When “doing your job” is not enough…

Deep down I think we all know that our excellent work does not, in fact, speak for itself and that not all people will know, notice or care who has done what work on a given project or assignment.

When we look at what other people do, we often operate under mistaken assumptions about who does what and the value of what those people do.

It's just the same when they're looking at what we do!

In the context of your career progression and day to day job satisfaction, the issue of who receives and takes the credit for a piece of work is important on a couple of fronts.

First and foremost, it comes up a lot!

It’s a regular topic (and complaint) in conversations between colleagues and I see it during coaching conversations about career issues.

Who wants to see someone else take credit for your work? Who wants to feel underappreciated?

It offends our sense of fairness and collegiality when that happens. It can damage our sense of status relative to colleagues if we are not credited appropriately for our contribution.

Secondly, it matters because organisations need to promote and nurture good performers and one of the ways organisations decide who those people are, is by looking at their accumulated credit.

So, if you have not been receiving (or claiming) credit for your work, you may not be perceived as a candidate for promotion and advancement.

It’s a complex subject and the culture of the organisation will have a huge impact on how well any individual or team can effectively help themselves to manage a situation where they are not getting due credit.

That aside, here are three practical suggestions:

Make your Contributions Visible to People who have Credit to Give

If you have accomplished something significant, share it.

Sharing can be lateral and upwards - people at different levels of the organisation have credit to give.

It could be covering a few highlights of your work with your boss each week, either in your one-to-one or through email updates.

It could be speaking up in a meeting to share something about what your team is doing or something it has achieved. It could even be giving a presentation on some best practices that could help other colleagues in a similar role.

To get people’s attention, focus on how what you did produced positive results for your organisation - highlight the benefits delivered.

This isn't bragging or overstating. It’s informing others about how you're getting things accomplished, which otherwise they might not know about.

By providing information about what you're doing and the results you're getting, you are giving yourself increased visibility across the organisation because people will better understand your role and the value you add.

Make your Contributions Visible

It is important for functional and project teams that fair value is attributed to everyone’s unique contribution.

There are lots of dynamics at play in any team that can skew the accurate and fair distribution of credit. More outgoing people will tend to talk more about what they’re doing. Client facing teams often fail to share their credit for a transaction with back office teams and other colleagues.

But taking too much credit can only happen when it’s allowed to happen!

As an individual contributor to a team, you have the power to make your contribution visible. The more visible it is, the less realistic it is for another person or group to take credit that is yours.

Be Generous in Sharing Credit with Others

Sometimes there can be a scarcity mindset about credit. If there is only so much to go around, I need to grab my share and hold on to it!

I think a contrary approach can be helpful. Why do we assume that credit is limited?

What would happen if you expanded the credit, created more of it and shared it?

When taking kudos from the board following the completion of a project, don’t hoard it, tell them there and then about the people you will share it with, the people who are not in the room but without whom there would be no project to celebrate.

Include junior staff in the credit sharing - it can be motivating and reinforcing for them to feel their contributions and their learning are appreciated by their senior colleagues.

If a senior person in a team models generosity in this way, it creates permission for others in the team to follow, so there is less hoarding of credit. It can also be an encouragement for other people to claim their credit - while also acknowledging the contribution of others.