Worker's Boss Takes All The Credit For Their Work — Now They're In Trouble With The CEO For Not 'Making An Imprint' On The Company
Career coaches say calling out bosses like this is vital, and when done the right way ensures they get thrown under the bus before you do.
QunicaStudio via Canva / SIphotography via Canva Unfortunately, most of us have at one time or another dealt with the problem of a coworker taking credit for our work. But for one person on Reddit, the problem at their job has gone to a whole new level — and it's left them undeservedly in hot water with the leadership of the company.
The worker's boss takes all the credit for their work, and now they're in trouble with the CEO for not working hard enough.
There's truly nothing more infuriating than being undermined by a coworker, and it's even worse when it's your boss. But when it leads to the CEO thinking you're incompetent? Oh boy, that is a mess.
Photo: Reddit
Having a boss who takes all the credit is a key sign that your boss is a narcissist, and it's considered a form of workplace bullying. It sounds like this worker's situation absolutely fits the bill.
To hear them tell it, this worker is actually a superstar in their company. They write that they are "a director at my organization, and I am constantly busy 24/7." This means they take on tons of projects, including for the company's VP and another director they work with.
But all that multitasking and being a team player has ended up working against them since their boss takes all the credit — to the point that they look incompetent.
The CEO reprimanded them for not making any 'impact' on the company and told them she doesn't even know what they do.
"Today the CEO told me that not only does she have no idea what I'm working on," the worker writes, "but she has no idea how I fill my time," which has to be absolutely infuriating given the truth.
They went on to say that the CEO's "perception is that my time is not filled, and that she never hears my name... she doesn't see the impact I'm having on the organization and never hears about anything I do."
Understandably, they're in shock. "I am completely taken aback and sickened by this," they write. "I give my all 24/7, even outside of regular hours." The interaction left them totally nonplussed, and they wondered how to move forward.
"I didn't want to throw my boss and my colleague under the bus and say that I do all of their work, so I just kind of listed all of the projects that I'm working on. What should I do?"
Career coaches and experts say that having a boss who takes all the credit has to be addressed immediately, and in a carefully executed way.
One of the key ways to deal with narcissistic colleagues — or any kind of terrible boss — is to keep detailed records of your work so that when confronted with a situation like this Redditor was by her CEO, you have plenty of evidence to back yourself up.
But that's not even the most important thing to do. Career coaches say that a colleague undermining you by taking credit for your work must be addressed, ideally long before it gets to the stage that this Redditor finds themself in.
Career coach Shadé Zahrai suggests trying, if possible, to nip these things in the bud in front of leadership and stakeholders by politely interrupting conversations with a smile on your face to clarify the work you did on the project by acknowledging both yours and your colleagues' contributions.
But if it's too late for that, she suggests confronting the person for taking credit directly, but without making a direct accusation. She proposes saying things like, "I noticed... my contribution wasn't mentioned at all. What was the reason for that?"
Again, it's important to document everything discussed and ideally to have a witness if the conversation happens in person.
Other career coaches, like TikToker Boris K, suggest taking things one step further by letting the person taking credit know that you won't tolerate it if it happens again.
"There's not need to be... rude," he says, "but we do need to draw a very clear boundary and let them know that if that boundary gets crossed again, we won't let them save face and we will tell the whole story."
Sounds like it's time for this Redditor to book some meetings and blow the whistle.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.