May 17, 2007How to Claim Credit

Filed under: Ask Meryl by merylrunion |

I completed a project on my own except for a few minutes of begrudging help from a manager. The CFO asked the manager if I had help organizing the project, and the manager said she helped me. How can I get the credit I deserve?

Meryl Responds

I’ll offer my suggestions, but I’d like you to benefit from the input of my readers before you pick a plan of action. (Or inaction.) So check the blog from the link below.

I suspect the CFO knows it was almost entirely your initiative. This manager may have stolen some thunder, but chances are good the CFO sees through her claims. I would not contradict her, but I would document what you did and give it to whomever is responsible for your next performance review.

I once created a slide show for the Mayor’s office that was shown on TV. Drew, a woman I never me before, transported my production to the TV station and credited herself with being the producer. When the graphics people asked me what my role was for the credits, I said I wrote the script, took the slides, recorded the soundtrack and put it all together. I never said anything to anyone about Drew, yet I could tell everyone knew what was going on, although . You could do something similar.

You also can say something to the manager if you think it will serve you to do so. You can say,

(Name), I heard that you told the CFO that you helped me organize the event. Do you think that’s an accurate claim? Because I worked very hard on this, and I’d like full credit for my role.

Chances are good she will hesitate to claim your credit again if she realizes you’re going to call her on it.