The Lies We Tell Our Selves: I Do All the Work and They Get All the Credit
The lie that gets uttered across workplaces across the world "I do all the work, and they get all the credit." It seems like a simple, clear-cut statement on the surface; someone else is getting credit for my work and I’m mad about it. But is it true?
Are you really doing all the work and getting none of the credit? What are you really saying when you say “I do all the work and they get all the credit.”
In some cases, it some cases, it’s true. Your work was stolen. Your idea was taken from someone else who used it as their own; the group project you were working on wasn’t really done by a group; it was done by you. But here’s where “I do all the work, and they get all the credit.” gets sticky and tricky
(brace yourself for a hard thing to hear delivered with love)
Sometimes, I dare say many times when I hear someone complaining of not getting credit for the work, it’s not because they didn’t step up and claim the credit for their work.
They allowed someone else to get credit for what they did.
Think about that for a moment. We get upset because someone else is getting credit for work we did (maybe they helped and maybe they didn’t), and we’re upset because others didn’t take notice of our contribution. We make things worse for ourselves, by thinking that others should “just know” that we did our part.
Ew. Ouch. I feel this one in my gut. We want the people who are important to us to notice our work, and sometimes they don't. And people aren’t mind readers, they make mistakes. People are busy, distracted, and often doing work that contributes to ours somehow; therefore, they claim their part. Thus, getting the credit. If we want credit for our work, we need to speak up and claim it. It's simple, but not easy. The next time you're in a spot where someone is getting credit, and you deserve some too, speak up. Acknowledge your accomplishments so that others can do the same.
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