A sponsor publicly credits the colleagues and teams who did the work on a success, by name and to their bosses, so those people are keen to back the sponsor's next proposal.
An example
Scrap at a brake components plant fell by a third in a year under a program the plant manager led, and the regional president wanted it presented to the parent company's operations council. The plant manager asked to bring three people: the quality engineer who had traced the root cause to the heat-treatment step, the second-shift supervisor whose crew had tested every fix, and the maintenance planner who had rebuilt the furnace schedule. Each presented their part. Afterward he wrote to the bosses of all three, naming what each had done and the savings it produced. Six months later he proposed extending the program to two sister plants, which meant borrowing people from regional quality and maintenance. The quality engineer's boss, who ran regional quality, offered two engineers before the plant manager had asked.
Why it works
Those credited, and their bosses, feel well treated and want to repay it, so supporting the sponsor's next proposal comes easily to them. Recognition is something colleagues value and costs the sponsor little, yet it is rarely given properly: specifically, publicly, and to the people whose opinion matters to the person credited. The move also builds the sponsor's name as someone good to work with. The credit must be accurate and specific, and the sponsor needs a next proposal these people can help with.
The thinking behind it
Allan R. Cohen Influence Without Authority (1990), by Cohen and Bradford, rests on exchange: people cooperate when they receive something they value, and recognition and visibility are among the position-related currencies. Letting a quality engineer, a shift supervisor, and a maintenance planner present to the operations council, then writing to their bosses, pays them in those currencies, and the exchange is settled later when regional quality lends two engineers.
Robert B. Cialdini Influence (1984) describes reciprocity: people feel obliged to repay what others give them, including favors they did not ask for. Credit given publicly and to someone's boss is a gift of that kind. The regional quality head who offered engineers before the plant manager asked was repaying it, which is why the tactic asks for credit every time and long before any request.
When it fits
Successes that involved people outside the sponsor's direct control (other teams, other functions, people lower in the hierarchy) are the occasion. It needs a forum where credit can be given publicly, access to the bosses of the people credited, and the confidence to share the spotlight.
How to use it well
Name the people who did the work, specifically: what each did and what it produced.
- Credit them where it counts, in front of senior people and in writing to their bosses.
- Bring them into the presentation of the result where you can, and let them present their part.
- Keep the credit accurate. Overpraising one person diminishes the others.
Do it every time, including when the next proposal is far off. Credit given only before an ask reads as a down payment, and people learn to discount it. Your own share of the credit will usually follow without your having to claim it.
What it costs and where it backfires
Credit given away means less of it for you, and in a culture that rewards self-promotion, a senior leader may never see your part. People credited once may expect it every time. Credit to some can leave others feeling overlooked, so take care to include everyone who contributed. Accurate credit for real work is the move; handing out credit for work people did not do, to win their backing, is flattery, and it devalues the real thing.
When it is used on you
Credited publicly for work on someone's project, enjoy it, and judge their next proposal on its merits. Gratitude does not oblige you to support a plan you think is wrong. If credit for your own work is going to someone else, give your boss the accurate account in writing.