How to work hard without being a pushover

How to work hard without being a pushoverIf youre like fruchtwein of us, youre dedicated to doing your absolute best at workday in and day outin order to prove to yourself, your colleagues, and to anyone else whos paying attention that you notlage only deserve the position youre in but that you have every intention of moving as high up your career ladder as possible. After all, who doesnt like a hard worker? googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) This often means that you not only give 100% effort on all of your work tasks and responsibilities, you also make every effort to help those around youafter all, smart employees know that a rising tide lifts all boats. It never hurts to gain a little good sentiment among coworkers, who hopefully see you as a strong link on the team chain and are mora than willing to return the favor when needed. However, the truth is that this sort of good-natured and well-intentioned approach to work often comes at a price, and you may have to contend with an onerous species of colleaguethe sort who will take advantage of your hard-working nature and use it to their self-centered advantage.Does this sound familiar? After spending countless hours toiling away on a long and involved project a scheming colleague swoops in out of nowhere and takes all the credit for your hard work. Does this sort of thing happen often to you? If so, dont feel too defeatedthe truth is, hard workers are often vulnerable to this bad behavior, as unscrupulous and infinitely lazier coworkers seek to capitalize on every opportunity to take advantage of the efforts of others. But that doesnt mean you should sit idly by and let them take advantage of you.If youd like to figure out some effective strategies for showing the world that youre a hard worker who will routinely go above and beyondbut who will not be taken advantage ofconsider taking advantage of the following steps.Step 1DiagnoseThe first step to making positive c hange, if and when you feel as if youre hard work is being taken advantage of, is to recognize that theres a problem. This often means realizing that theres a pattern of poor behavior on the part of a colleagueafter all, a one-time thing where someone received a little more credit on a work project than they deserved might just be a miscommunication or harmless mistake. But if it continues to occur repeatedly, then its a real problem. Once you recognize that theres an issue, you can begin to mobilize a strategy for dealing with it head on.Step 2ConfirmThe truth is, sometimes were our own worst witnesses to a situation that directly involves us. Why? Because we often simply lack the distance needed to have a completely rational perspective. As a result, its helpful in situations like these to either get a second opinion from a trusted colleague or, if not feasible, to try our best and take a step back from the situation in an effort to objectively confirm that what we think is happen ing actually is. After all, the last thing you want to do is accuse a colleague of taking advantage of your hard work when it isnt really happening (talk about awkward).Step 3Confront (Carefully)For most people, this is the trickiest step, and for good reason. Once youve diagnosed and confirmed the problem, the only way to effect positive and lasting change is to confront the situationbut be sure to proceed with caution. There is a broad spectrum of approaches you can take, depending on how pervasive the situation is, as well as your relationship with the person in question and your position and standing at workas well as theirs. After all, how you handle this situation if it was a subordinate taking advantage of your hard work vs. your boss behaving this way will likely be vastly different.This is why proceeding with caution is so essential. If feasible, try tactfully communicating your feelings regarding the situation to the person in question. Best case scenario, with minimum eff ort you nimbly eradicate the bad behavior. If this approach fails, then it may be time to step up your efforts, but dont jump from a 1 to a 10 on the assertiveness scale out of frustrationtry incrementally more assertive approaches (were NOT endorsing doing anything that will put you or your job in jeopardy here) to send a clear signal that you will not sit by and idly accept your colleague taking advantage of your hard work. It may entail talking to your boss or the other persons boss about the situation if all else fails, or trying to avoid working directly with them whenever possible.If its your boss or a superior whos taking advantage of you, then the situation is even trickier. Simply put, youre going to have tread lightly here. If your relationship with the superior in question is strong, you may stand a good chance of fixing the problem if this isnt the case, weigh your options and determine the approach that makes the most sense given your situation, always erring on the sid e of caution.Step 4ChangeHow you behave moving forward will send a clear indication of how much others can treat you at work. Simply put, people are far less likely to try and take advantage of a colleague who radiates strength and confidence than someone whos more meek and reserved. Continue your hard work and eagerness to be a team player, but start sending clear signals that youre not a person to be underestimated or mistreated. Whenever possible, try and protect your work from the involvement of others, and claim fair credit for your work when you can. Trust us, if handled properly people will start to get the message and will think twice before trying to take advantage of youyou may even garner some newfound respect from others in your work orbit.