Recently, a fellow 50+ female asked me the following question:
I have a boss at work who tends to take my ideas and present them as his own at meetings. How should I handle that?
As a change/business consultant, I responded from a professional standpoint, saying things like:
- Ask him for help in presenting your own ideas. Ask if he would give you a chance to present some information, mentoring you throughout the presentation.
- Congratulate him when he presents your ideas on a job well done, then let him know that it does bothers you that you aren’t mentioned and you want to know if there’s something you should be doing differently.
Now, in my menopausal moments, here’s what I really would like to have said:
- As he is presenting your idea during the meeting, body slam him. Jump across the conference table and take him out.
- Every time you’re in a meeting with him and he says, “My thought about this is . . .” do the bullsh** sneeze. Loudly.
- Jump in during the presentation before he has a chance to share the idea, and say, “You know, while you’re on that topic, I think the report I put together for you would really enhance your presentation. Did you bring a copy of that?”
- After the meeting, pin him against a wall and say, “If you take one more of my ideas and present it as your own, I will cut you.”
There you go — a hot flash of Dame ideas on the topic. Of course, if you visit my “professional” website I’ll never take this approach. But I knew you Dames would understand.
Anybody else have a professional question you’d like to send my way? I’m sure I’ll have a Dame good response :).