Dr. Shadé Zahrai

I'm going to remind myself there's no physical threat, and then I'm going to speak.

You want to make sure that you're not speaking fast because when our emotions are in overdrive, we get nervous, we speed up our pace, which then can make people zone out or it undermines our credibility.

So speak slowly, have a pause, importantly, make eye contact.

That's what allows people to stay engaged.

And that's how you can harness your emotion in that moment.

So you're in a meeting and that coworker takes credit.

There are two scenarios.

Either it's happened before or this is the first time.

Let's start with if it's the first time.

You might feel that negative emotion bubble, that unfairness, that inequality, that this is not right.

What I encourage you to do, firstly, determine whether you speaking up now is right.

what you want to do.

Sometimes it's not even worth it.

Let it go.

But if this is something that you really need to get recognition for, you put in a lot of work, you really feel like this is important, call it out immediately.

So Jay, let's say you're taking credit for my work.

I would jump in, even if I have to cut Jay off a little bit, that's fine.

I'd say, what Jay's trying to explain is that he worked on the initial proposal.

I then jumped in and I worked with clients and we got the whole project going and it was a fantastic team effort and we're really proud of what we've created.

You immediately jump in there, add you in.