Wise words: Indira Gandhi on not being a glory hog

It stings when someone takes credit for work you produced or an idea you came up with. It’s especially painful when your boss takes credit for the hard work you’ve put in.

As a new—or tenured—manager, you want to make a great impression on your boss. You want to prove that you deserve to be in a management position. However, if you get your boss’s attention by hogging all the credit from your employees, you will destroy your chances of ever leading a successful team.

Why? Because your employees will stop trusting you. They will tire of you stealing their ideas and taking credit for their achievements, and they may stop offering up new ideas altogether. Or they may even send their ideas to people above you to ensure that they get the credit they deserve. In extreme cases, they may become so resentful that try to sabotage you.

Regardless their reaction, instead of looking like a super star, you will look like a poor leader or an incompetent manager who has lost control of the team.

Glory Hogs:

• Are sneaky and dishonest.

• Take credit for their employees’ work but …

• Never are willing to accept blame when their employees fall short.

• Stifle subordinates out of fear that those people are smarter than they are.

• Focus on moving themselves ahead, usually at the cost of employees.

Even if you are saying to yourself “That’s totally not me,” ensure that you aren’t showing any glory hog tendencies by following two basic rules:

1. Give credit when it’s due. Never accept an employee’s idea as your own. Always recognize the hard work of your staff. Never accept praise without acknowledging the help you received along the way.

2. Accept blame for your staff. That is a little harder to do. But the quickest way to gain respect from your staff is to stand up and be accountable when something goes wrong. Don’t place blame. Instead, focus on overcoming the issue.

Discover how to avoid other toxic manager behaviors in The Cure for Toxic-Boss Syndrome: Avoid the Blunders That Disrupt Teams.

[Image Source: Note to Self]

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