You worked hard on a project yet your manager takes all the praise. You pitch in a bright idea and your manager takes all the credit. Does this scenario sound familiar? It’s natural to be angry if someone is usurping your time to shine. But since he or she is your manager, you face a dilemma of what to do.  Should you confront your boss or just keep quiet?

How do you prevent this from happening again in your workplace? Significantly, in the real world of work it does matter who takes the credit. But it is also a problem when the work is collaborative. It’s very hard to determine who puts in the most effort. When this occurs, quite often it is the manager who takes the undue credit. Here are some advices you can follow if you face this type of conundrum.

Stay Calm

You should not confront your manager in the heat of the moment. This will only reflect badly on you like a child who got his candy stolen. Take your time to calm down and get the facts in order. Try to assess your involvement in the situation if you really feel that your idea was stolen. See the scenario in an objective manner trying to understand why your manager acted that way. More importantly, is an astute judge of yourself in your contribution to the scenario. When you’ve calmed down, you can have a straight forward talk with your manager.

Review the Situation

It is important to note that credit stealing may be unintentional. This happens all the time when the pressure to perform is high in the workplace. Do not jump into conclusions that your manager is out to get you. But rather try to determine the severity of the problem. Before you talk to your manager, write down what you would like to say. You should ask yourself if it’s necessary to talk to your manager since managers do often take credit for teamwork. As you are part of a team maybe you should not take all the credit since it is shared work. Do remember that as a subordinate, it is important that your manager looks good. Understand that it is more important that he or she recognizes that you’re an important member of the team.

Talk to Your Manager

A straight forward talk will help clear the matter. You should ask your manager why he or she took the credit. Remember the talk should not be about making accusations but rather trying to understand why it happened. You can start by asking your manager why you presented it in that way. It is a passive aggressive approach that will help you get the right answers. More importantly, your manager will have to explain his or her actions.

Find an Agreement with Your Manager

After you’ve explained your side and your manager has acknowledged his or her mistake. You can form an agreement that showcases credit distribution when it’s due. For example, your manager can set the record straight and thank you for your contribution in the next meeting. Furthermore, the manager can start using “we” statements instead of “I” in order to prevent credit stealing.

Seek Help from Another Manager

If you have already done the aforementioned tips and to no avail. It’s time for you to ask help from a higher boss or manager. You can mention that you feel that you’re being undermined in terms of credit and that it is negatively affecting your working relationship. In this way, your goal is not to complain or bad mouth your manager but frame it in a way that it is dampening teamwork. A different manager or higher boss can remedy the situation since they can talk to your manager. He or she may listen more to their advice rather than yours.