Ever had a narcissist take credit for your idea or accomplishment? Narcissists are masters at twisting reality to suit their needs.
Why do they do this?
First, they crave praise and admiration. Brazenly stealing credit for your work is their shortcut to status and glory.
But the second, more crucial reason is that they lack empathy.
They have a unique ability to instantly re-write history in their mind. In other words, they actually CONVINCE THEMSELVES that they originated the idea.
They believe it so fully that they could pass a polygraph. It doesn’t occur to them that they hijacked your moment with an alternate reality.
So what do you do about this?
You could call them out for taking credit. But rationale doesn’t work with an irrational person.
They’ll likely react by digging their heels in, challenging your integrity, and calling you petty names like jealous or a liar. The idea you worked so hard to accomplish will either stall, die, or be diminished as a result of the ensuing chaos.
Or….
You can make the choice to set your annoyance aside and generously share the credit.
The people around you will soon catch on to the narcissist’s twisted reality—if they haven’t already. If they’ve known the person for long, chances are they’ve experienced this, too.
By sharing the credit, you earn the narcissist’s commitment to move forward and make things happen.
And that’s what you really want, right? To influence progress, not self-glory.
More tips in the next post. Until then, if you want to learn more about how to handle narcissists, you’ll find more here in my book, Become the Real Deal: .https://www.amazon.com/Become-Real-Deal-Influence-Executive/dp/1118633784
