I am feelin' a little frisky tonight. I had an iced coffee after 4:00 today and watch out everybody! Here's what is on my mind tonight: The jerks at work who don't give you credit for your ideas.
This is one of the most COMMON COMPLAINTS we hear from people that we work with in a one on one context. These are the same people hanging out at the water cooler complaining, posting veiled comments on Facebook about how much they hate someone at work (cheaper than telling a therapist) and walking the halls of their workplace with that glazed over "I sure do hate this place" kind of looks on their faces.
These people are pissed.
They went to college and worked hard to get a degree. They came to work full of great ideas and ready to conquer the world and it never seems to fail that over time this gets beaten out of them. The most reliable way to beat it out of them is by not giving them credit for their great ideas.
With all that being said, maybe it is time to take the matter into our own hands and toot our own horn? Are you with me? Here are a few ideas I am throwing around on this:
Three simple things you should start doing (the catch here is that you have to do them for it to work)
1. The first one is kinda simple--ask the people who are impacted by your idea, program, contribution if they liked or enjoyed what you came up with. A notable example is for those who work in the field of marketing. Marketing people are idea people. Day after day they come to their workplace and try and generate new and creative (think sticky) ideas to help grow the business. These ideas are often a collaboration but the seed for the idea gets planted most often by one person. If that person is you don't continue to get overlooked. Go to the people who are the decision makers and say "Hey how did you like the ________ program/project?" Response "I loved it!" "Good! I wasn't sure you guys would like it but I thought I would put the idea on the table"
Subtle. But effective.
2. Put on your big girl panties and tell the person who is a. failing to give you the credit or b. taking the credit for themselves. This is dramatically more different than my first suggestion isn't it? It requires that you be assertive. Are you familiar with the word assertive? It comes down to how you word something and your tone of voice, nonverbal communication etc. (so that you are not perceived as aggressive) Again, imagine your boss fails to give you credit for your idea on how to pitch the new client. Carefully choose a good time to approach your boss (FACE TO FACE!) and ask for a few minutes of his/her time. Clear your throat and say the following:
"It is important to me that when I have a great idea that we roll with, that I be given some credit for it. This may not even be something you are thinking about and I can understand that. But I want everyone to see that I am committed to the success of the team and this is one way I think that gets communicated"
Being assertive takes practice....(future blog post forthcoming me thinks)
3. Give credit. Here's the deal if you start practicing this principle there is a chance other people will take note and begin to practice this as well. Likewise it provides a nice balance between tooting your own horn for yourself and then for others too. People will see that you notice their contribution. And you don't have to be in a position of power or a decision maker to do this! Anyone can do it. Start looking for people who often get overlooked and praise them for their ideas and contribution.
Now get to tooting. (12 year old boy humor)
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