“I PUT in so much effort for this project, but my colleague claimed all the credit!” my friend lamented.

“Did you tell your boss?” I asked her. 

“Of course, but there’s no point. My boss trusts her because she will wayang (Malay for putting on an act) a lot.”

As my friend spoke more about this colleague, I couldn’t help but think of a meme I’d seen once, about prawns fetching high market value despite having no brains and no guts. 

After all, we all know or have heard of someone who boasts about being able to get the job done, but in fact, they either just lack the skills for the task or somehow manage to pass the work on to someone else (but yet still take the credit).

Harsh as that may sound, the “fake-it-till-you-make-it” attitude has always been around – even as far back as schooldays – and it is especially obvious during project work. But why do people buy into it?

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According to Samuel Chng, who heads the Urban Psychology Lab at Singapore University of Technology and Design’s Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, this type of posturing is commonplace at work, as confident individuals are more likely to be elevated to leadership positions.

“We trust confident individuals partly because we believe that their confidence portends future success,” he says. “And there is good reason to believe this as we see this all around us. Confident athletes, politicians and businesspeople are more likely to succeed.”

Posturing much?

It is true that a tad of posturing has never hurt. How we conduct ourselves impacts our dynamics with our bosses and colleagues. To a large extent, it affects how we are viewed by them. After all, who doesn’t like a confident problem-solver? 

As Jaya Dass, managing director of recruitment at Randstad Malaysia and Singapore, says: “Being able to engage in constructive posturing also enhances an individual’s ability to influence outcomes and garner support for their ideas or initiatives, helping to facilitate smoother collaboration and more harmonious teamwork.”

However, I think we should be aware that correlation is not causation. Not all confident people are good performers.

Moreover, excessive posturing can lead to a disconnect between the image an employee wants to project at work and their actual capabilities, Dass adds. If one focuses more on creating a desirable perception of oneself rather than delivering results, one runs the risk of possibly creating a toxic work environment.

What about the actual work?

Preferring to be a wallflower, I have always found it quite hard to posture. 

The view of Matshona Dhliwayo, a Zimbabwean-born philosopher based in Canada, to “let your work speak for itself”, has always been my way of life.

Does this put me at a disadvantage? The thought has crossed my mind many times.

Linda Teo, country manager of ManpowerGroup Singapore, has some advice for people like me.

“In today’s environment, working hard in silence is not enough if you want to grow your career, as not all bosses are adept at assessing and recognising silent achievers’ contributions and potential...

“If you want to be given the juicy opportunities at work, sometimes you’ll need to display the ‘can do’ attitude... Otherwise, opportunities might pass you by while your louder or more demonstrative peers move ahead of you on the ladder, despite delivering similar results.”

I believe that while posturing can help one in the short term to build up confidence – as it sometimes psyches one into thinking they can perform on the job – cracks will start to appear in the long run if one does not have the capability required. This is especially true as one still needs to deliver the work, and results. 

She adds: “If you’re not fond of posturing, then you need to (continually) show your peers and bosses that you can deliver results when given a task. Work on developing a solid reputation as a problem-solver. This approach is more sustainable, as most problem-solvers don’t come across as know-it-alls, but take the opportunity to learn and solve issues at hand.”

At the end of the day, it is important that even as one is faking it, he or she makes an effort to bridge the knowledge gap.