Here's how you can navigate a situation where your boss takes credit for your work or ideas.

It actually happened. I was asked to write a ‘Thought Leadership’ article on a specific topic for wider thought leadership paper - which I didn’t know was intended to be written by my Boss, his Boss and his colleague. I did wrote a piece on the requested topic and it was so good that my Boss liked it immediately. However, after few days I read an announcement on the wider thought leadership paper, which was published and reading the paper I found a specific section was word by word - what I have written, but with no mention or acknowledgment, rather the credit was all to my Boss. Though being in a sensitive position, I queried it with my Boss to understand the context and intent for doing so in a very calm and professional way.

In my nearly two decade career, I have had this happen over and over again. The intent varies but at the end of the day, it showed a lack of integrity. Early on in my career I just had to deal with it, because outshining the master was not an option. Later on in my career and as I got more responsibility in my position, I confronted anyone who was taking credit for my work or for someone else's work. It made me unpopular and led to uncomfortable conversations, but if you don't speak up for yourself - very few will.

Communication is key in navigating situations where credit for your work or ideas may be at stake. Stay professional and avoid confrontational tones Effective communication helps in addressing misunderstandings and ensuring your contributions are acknowledged appropriately.

This is a great way to confirm whether their intent comes with a positive intention or not. Life at work gets busy, office politics play a big part in day to day work, and people do things unintentionally. Having a face to face discussion without shame or blame, from a place of curiosity can help you communicate your dissatisfaction or how you feel. If it happens again, than you know where you stand that you are working for someone who is not going let you shine or give you credit for your work.

This has been by far the best strategy in my career. I had allies across NATO, not only in my team or agency. Even if people tried to take credit for my work, I would have member nations secretly send emails to my boss about our partnership. Don't use your time to complain or to speak bad about your boss, that's the worst thing you can do when building relationships. Instead, let your work speak for itself, build strong and genuine relationships, and watch how people will vouch for you and your work.

In life, there will always be people who try to go down the path of least effort. People often want to copy you or be you, but they don't want to put in the work to produce the same quality of work. Don't waste your energy trying to fight it or trying to feel bad about it, because no matter what others try to do - they can't copy your personality, your vibes and your uniqueness. Work on things no body can take away from you.