Manager gives employee fake ‘growth opportunity’ because she dumps weeks of her own work on him before taking all the credit: ‘She framed it as a gift to me. And then she erased me from it entirely’

What would you do if your manager took credit for weeks of your work?

Some managers really don't know how to be a manager. What happened with this employee is straight-up lying, if you ask me. This employee had been working at a mid-size tech company and, apparently, had a bright future coming… A couple of months ago, he had a meeting with his manager, and she told him that she had a great opportunity for him: a chance to grow at the company and to basically prove his worth.

This was a lot of work to do because it consisted of doing some "strategic work" for a business review meeting that was going to take place in a couple of weeks. He took it all in and worked on it for days, nights, and even weekends. He was excited and was serious about it because he really thought this was his chance to get a promotion. He did ask some of his coworkers to help him with a few things, but he did everything else alone.

When this meeting came around, he was not asked to attend because it was a "leadership-only discussion". Fair enough… could be true. 

But the main problem came later: she sent a message to the group chat thanking everyone who had been a part of the project… she mentioned three names, but she did not mention the employee. Later that day, she accidentally forwarded him an email that was for her, in which leadership was congratulating her on this big project… and yet again, he was not mentioned.

And now the debate comes in: what is the correct step to take next? Stay in the company, swallow your pride, and pretend that it never happened? Or talk to someone else and claim some of the reward that he deserves? I'd have said, in the past, that speaking up for yourself is always great and teaches you a lot… but in this case, I wouldn't stay around. I'd look for another job and quit. But before I leave, I'd talk to her and tell her that what she pulled off was not okay.