Clay Linkous explains how to address a leader taking credit for your work. Instead of accusing them, state what you observed: "I was surprised you didn't acknowledge the work I did." This keeps the conversation constructive and gives them room to respond without getting defensive.
Chapters
So imagine you're in a meeting, and your leader is presenting something that you contributed heavily to. And your leader didn't acknowledge you and your contribution to that work, right? And you're sitting there, and your leader's getting all the praise and contribution. And you're like, I literally created that. That's me, right? And there is— when you say something like this, you'd say, Hey, I was surprised that you didn't acknowledge the work that I did. That's a very okay statement because you're actually staying on your side of the net, right? Surprised you didn't acknowledge me. You're— the other person's side of the net is saying something like, why are you always trying to take credit for my work? Because what does the other side of the net do? It makes an assumption or an accusation, right? So I'm making an assumption accusation about why they didn't give me credit, as opposed to just saying, this is what I experienced, here's the impact on it, and then making space for them to respond, right? That's the key. Because if I go to the other side of the net, and I say, hey, why are you trying to always take credit for my work? That is likely going to elicit what kind of response from them? Like, I'm not trying to take credit for your work. Why do you say that? Right? But if I'm just letting them know, here's my observation, here's the experience. Now it's your time to return. Like, that's a much better version of that conversation.
