Posts

How to Handle a Coworker Who Takes Credit for Your Work: A Senior Consultant's Guide to Not Going Mental

Related Articles:

Three months ago, I watched a colleague present "his" strategy to reduce client churn by 15%. The thing is, I'd seen that exact PowerPoint before - because I bloody well created it the week prior. Every slide. Every graph. Even the dodgy font choice on slide seven that I'd been meaning to fix.

Standing there in that boardroom, watching him field compliments on "innovative thinking," I had two choices: call him out publicly and look petty, or smile politely and plot my revenge later. I chose option three - something I wish someone had taught me fifteen years ago when I was still naive enough to believe credit always flows to the right person.

Here's what I've learnt after nearly two decades in corporate Australia: credit thieves aren't going anywhere. They're like cockroaches in a Brisbane summer - resilient, annoying, and surprisingly good at surviving. But you don't have to be their victim.

The Anatomy of a Credit Thief

Before we dive into solutions, let's understand what we're dealing with. In my experience, there are three main types of workplace parasites:

The Unconscious Absorber: Usually someone higher up the food chain who genuinely believes they contributed more than they did. They'll say things like "great teamwork on the Johnson project" whilst taking sole credit in the executive summary. Not malicious, just oblivious.

The Strategic Repositioner: These ones are clever. They'll build on your idea just enough to claim co-ownership, then gradually push you out of the conversation. "Actually, what Sarah proposed builds nicely on something I was discussing with management last month..."

The Outright Thief: Rare but devastating. They'll literally copy your work and present it as their own. No shame, no subtlety. These are the ones that make you question humanity.

I once worked with a bloke in Perth who fell squarely into category three. Let's call him Derek (because that was his name). Derek had the remarkable ability to absorb other people's ideas through his skin, apparently. You'd float a concept during morning coffee, and by lunch Derek was "just having a thought" about exactly the same thing.

The worst part? Management loved Derek. He was confident, articulate, and always seemed to have brilliant insights. What they didn't see was the rest of us doing the actual thinking whilst Derek perfected his presentation skills.

Why Prevention Beats Cure Every Time

Most advice on this topic focuses on what to do after you've been screwed over. That's like learning bushfire safety after your house is already burning. Smart operators get ahead of the problem.

Here's my rule: document everything. And I mean everything. Email yourself key ideas immediately after meetings. CC relevant people on project updates. Use shared documents with version history. Create a paper trail that would make a forensic accountant weep with joy.

When developing effective communication strategies, always send follow-up emails summarising "what we discussed." This isn't just good practice - it's legal protection. "Thanks Derek, great chat about the retention strategy I outlined. Looking forward to collaborating on implementing those customer touchpoint improvements I suggested."

See what I did there? Hard to claim ownership when it's literally in writing that the ideas came from me.

The Immediate Response Playbook

When someone pinches your work, your first instinct might be to go nuclear. Don't. I learnt this the hard way during my early consulting days when I accused a senior partner of stealing my client analysis in front of the entire leadership team. Technically, I was right. Politically, I was dead.

Instead, try the "collaborative clarification" approach:

"That's an interesting take on the framework I developed last week. How do you see it differing from the original concept?"

This does three things: establishes your prior ownership, forces them to acknowledge your contribution, and gives them a face-saving way to backtrack. Most importantly, it does this publicly without making you look like a whinging toddler.

For persistent offenders, escalate gradually. Start with direct conversation: "I notice you're using the customer segmentation model I created. Happy to walk through the methodology if you'd like to understand the thinking behind it."

If they're smart, they'll take the hint. If not, you've got grounds for a more formal discussion with management.

Building Your Reputation Fortress

The best defence against credit theft is having a reputation so solid that people naturally associate good ideas with you. This takes time, but it's worth the investment.

Become the person who sends excellent email summaries after every meeting. Be the one who asks thoughtful questions that advance the conversation. Volunteer for the presentations that others avoid.

I started doing monthly "insight shares" with my team - short sessions where we'd discuss industry trends, client feedback, or process improvements. Nothing formal, just fifteen minutes over coffee. Within six months, people were coming to me first when they had challenges to solve.

The goal isn't to become a credit hog yourself. It's to be so obviously valuable that stealing from you becomes career suicide for the thief.

When Nuclear Options Are Justified

Sometimes diplomacy fails. Sometimes Derek doesn't just borrow your ideas - he photocopy your entire proposal and presents it to the CEO as his own groundbreaking innovation.

This happened to a mate of mine in Sydney. She'd spent weeks developing a workplace wellness program, complete with budget projections and implementation timelines. Her manager submitted it under his own name for a company-wide innovation award. And won.

That's when you escalate. Hard.

Document everything. Print emails. Save drafts with timestamps. Then request a private meeting with your manager's boss. Present the evidence calmly and professionally. Don't make it personal - make it about protecting intellectual property and ensuring proper recognition protocols.

In my mate's case, the manager lost the award and faced a formal review. She got promoted six months later. Justice isn't always swift, but it can be satisfying.

The Long Game

Here's something most people miss: credit theft often says more about organisational culture than individual character. If someone can routinely steal ideas without consequences, you're working somewhere with serious leadership problems.

Consider whether you want to keep playing defence in a broken system. I've seen brilliant people waste years fighting for recognition in companies that fundamentally don't value original thinking. Sometimes the smartest response is finding somewhere that does.

Professional development opportunities often include components about intellectual property protection and collaborative recognition systems. Companies serious about innovation create environments where credit flows properly because they understand that recognition drives performance.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Credit

After seventeen years in various corporate environments, I've reached an uncomfortable conclusion: perfect credit distribution is impossible. Ideas build on other ideas. Collaboration blurs ownership lines. Sometimes the person who presents an idea isn't the person who originated it, but they might be the one who made it actionable.

The goal isn't to hoard every ounce of recognition. It's to ensure you get enough to advance your career and maintain your sanity.

But here's what I wish someone had told me at 25: being known as someone who shares credit generously will take you further than being known as someone who hoards it jealously. The people who remember being recognised for their contributions become your advocates. The ones you fight for recognition become your enemies.

Build alliances. Share success. Protect yourself from theft. But don't become so focused on credit that you forget to create things worth stealing.

Because at the end of the day, having your ideas stolen is better than having no ideas worth stealing at all.

After fifteen years helping Australian businesses improve their workplace dynamics, I've seen every variation of office politics imaginable. The credit thieves, the backstabbers, the brown-nosers - they're all just symptoms of larger systemic issues. Fix the system, and you fix the behaviour.