Once in our life, or maybe most of the time in our lives, we meet someone that āsteals oneās thunderā and there is nothing more infuriating than someone taking credit for our work, where we share an idea with a colleague and then hear him repeat it to your bosses or publicly claiming credit for the work we do. You are the one who stayed late to finish the presentation and exerted all the efforts to make it perfect, yet someone accepts all the praise.
Weāve all had these happen at one point or another. Personally, I experienced this a lot and one of those was when I worked in the US in a hotel as a Junior Sous Chef. In the restaurant that Iāve worked they create a new dish to add to their menu every month; it is the way of the restaurant in providing a balanced menu that offers unique dishes and old favorites. I was partnered with the Senior Sous chef to create a new dish. Ā As a new employee we obey all the tasks that are given to us by our superiors; he asked me to make a new dish, and just communicate with him for the final approval. So, I plan what would be the dish, what would be its components. I also did a dry run and even practiced at home to make it perfect. And so, the day comes for our food tasting to our Executive Chef and the Managers. They loved it and told us that they have decided to add it to our menu and when our Executive chef asked us whose idea is it. My Senior Sous Chef answered immediately and claimed that it was his idea. I was so disappointed at that moment and thereās nothing I can do to say that it was my idea and defend myself. Knowing that I āam a new employee of that hotel. In my mind at that time, everything that I would say would be useless even though I have some proof to show them that it was my idea because I āam new and my Senior Sous chef worked there for a long time so they will just believe him.
We all want to believe that our work speaks for itself. But āin the real worldā it matters who gets the credit. And we canāt assume that people will notice the time and effort we put in, and there will always be people that try to take credit for our work and defame our name, but thatās life. Always remember no matter how thick the clouds are, if the sun is determined to shine, it will always shine. Ā
“Every job is a self portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence, integrity and honesty.”
Vince lombardi
30 January 2022 at 11:26 pm
Hello everyone!
I hope you find my blog post interesting. I would love to hear your feedback about how to structure a post and the understanding of the concept presented. Please feel free to write your comment below.
Thank you!
3 February 2022 at 6:20 pm
Great post! This is a common theme in workplaces and I think speaks to a difference in how people value fairness and in what context and how something like this can erode a workplace culture. With your future posts I would tell the story and tie it to course concepts and this is an excellent first post.