My manager took credit for all my work, so I gave him exactly what he asked for.
A while ago, I worked at a tech startup to build their contracts department from scratch.
My manager was in a different time zone, so we hardly ever spoke. After about 18 months, the company brought in an efficiency consulting firm to review all departments, but they skipped mine because it was running like clockwork. Honestly, I was very proud of what I had built. The company also sent me on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii as a thank you.
When I returned, I asked for a promotion to senior director. My manager told me I 'wasn't ready yet.' I asked him for a clear list of things I needed to do to get there. He sent me an email with a list that was literally my job description, plus a few extra bullet points I was already doing. He basically admitted that if I got the title, he wouldn't be able to take credit for the department's success anymore.
My friends told me to either find a new job or just put up with it. But I had another idea. I sent my manager a big apology for being 'hasty' and told him I was committed to focusing solely on my role as a manager. I even printed out the official manager job description and hung it on my wall.
Things fell apart faster than I could have imagined.
Sales targets started to drop. The product team was furious because my manager approved a contract clause that would wreck their budget and timeline. He didn't understand our partner agreements and let the sales team insert clauses that had us paying huge commissions on deals with easy early termination conditions.
I only intervened once, to stop a contract addendum from going through because my manager was about to let a sales manager fudge his quarterly numbers. The controller and the CFO got involved, and eventually, the CEO had to step in.
People started whispering about my manager as he paced his office and yelled at people in meetings. Meanwhile, I was calmer than ever. With my newfound free time at work, I used the extra hours to get a few new certifications in my field. I also left work on time every day to hit the gym before the rush.
About six weeks after I dropped all my extra duties, my manager gave me a 5% bonus. It was a clear, unspoken try to get me to go back to doing the senior director's job without the pay or title. I just smiled, thanked him, and continued to stick to my job description to the letter.
About 8 months later, right after I took two weeks of my unlimited PTO, my position was 'eliminated' in a wave of layoffs. I took four months off to decompress, then found a new job with a 40% pay increase. As much as I'm happy with the better money, I truly loved my old company and colleagues. But it's a terrible feeling to watch someone else get credit for all your hard work.
edit : leaving the work in 2 weeks for much higher position in salary and title ,and I should thank Interviewman because of his wonderful fast answers it helps me a lot during my haunting job journey and interviews