Why Some People Get Away With Everything? | IDIOSYNCRASY CREDITS |
Have you ever wondered why your manager tolerates some employees breaking rules while others get pulled up for small mistakes? The answer lies in Idiosyncrasy C...
Avinash Chate - Team Building Expert conducting interactive workshop
Why Some People Get Away With Everything at Work: The Truth About Idiosyncrasy CreditsHave you ever looked around your workplace and wondered why one person can challenge a rule, miss a deadline, or speak bluntly in a meeting and still come out untouched, while someone else gets questioned for a much smaller mistake? I have seen this pattern across teams, leaders, and organizations, and the answer often lies in a powerful human behavior concept called idiosyncrasy credits.
Key takeaway: people do not get away with everything because rules are absent. They get away with more because they have built invisible trust, value, and goodwill over time.
As a corporate trainer, TEDx speaker, and author of The Winning Edge, I have discussed this idea with professionals at every level. When people understand it, office politics suddenly starts making sense. This is not just about favoritism. It is about human perception, credibility, and the emotional balance sheet you build in the minds of others.
I, Avinash Chate, want to make this practical for you. If you learn how idiosyncrasy credits work, you will stop feeling helpless and start building influence the right way. This is especially important for professionals who want growth without manipulation, and for leaders who want fairness without becoming rigid.
What Are Idiosyncrasy Credits?
Idiosyncrasy credits are like an invisible bank account of trust and acceptance. Every time you contribute positively, show maturity, deliver results, support the team, or align with the culture, you make deposits. Over time, people begin to give you more space, more tolerance, and more benefit of the doubt.
That is why some employees are allowed more freedom. It is not always because they are more talented. Often, it is because they have earned psychological permission through repeated positive behavior.
In simple words, when you have built enough credibility, others are more likely to interpret your mistakes as exceptions rather than character flaws. But when you have not built that foundation, even a small error can damage your image.
I have seen this in training rooms across 80+ organizations. The professionals who rise steadily are not always the loudest or the most aggressive. They are the ones who understand that influence is earned before it is exercised.
The Four Credits You Must Build at Work
When I explain this concept in my sessions, I break it into four practical forms of workplace credit. Each one matters because influence is never built through one dimension alone.
1. Competency Credits
This is the most obvious one. If you consistently perform, solve problems, meet commitments, and add value, people trust your judgment more. Your work speaks before you do. Competency gives you professional weight.
When a high performer makes one mistake, leaders often say, “This is unlike them.” That sentence itself is proof of accumulated competency credits.
2. Conformity Credits
This means showing that you understand and respect the norms of the team or organization. It does not mean becoming fake or losing your individuality. It means demonstrating that you can work within the system before trying to challenge it.
People accept nonconformity more easily from someone who has already shown discipline. If you want to question a process, first prove that you can follow one.
3. Loyalty Credits
Loyalty is not blind obedience. It is visible commitment to shared goals, team success, and professional relationships. When people know that you are dependable and not self-serving, they trust your intentions more.
This is why employees who stand by the team during pressure often earn long-term respect. In one of my interactions connected to Daspati Maratha Charitable Trust Mumbai, I noticed how deeply people value those who remain committed when circumstances become difficult.
4. Status Credits
Status can come from role, expertise, reputation, or recognition. Like it or not, titles and social standing influence how behavior is interpreted. A senior leader may say something sharply and be seen as decisive, while a junior employee saying the same thing may be labeled disrespectful.
This may not always feel fair, but it is real. The goal is not to complain about it endlessly. The goal is to understand it and build your own standing ethically.
The Phase-Wise Strategy to Build Your Invisible Bank Account
One of the biggest mistakes professionals make is trying to claim freedom before they have earned trust. Influence has a sequence. If you ignore that sequence, you create resistance. If you respect it, you create momentum.
Phase 1: Observe Before You Assert
In your early days in any role, watch carefully. Understand the spoken rules and the unspoken expectations. Learn who values what. Notice what gets appreciated and what gets penalized. This is not politics in a negative sense. This is social intelligence.
Many people damage their image because they want to impress too quickly. They speak before understanding the culture. They challenge before building credibility.
Phase 2: Deliver Consistently
Your strongest early investment is competence. Meet deadlines. Communicate clearly. Be reliable. Reduce the mental load of your manager and your team. When people know they can count on you, your account starts growing.
This is where communication and execution work together. If you want to deepen this mindset in sales and professional relationships, I recommend reading Why Honest Selling Builds Trust, Loyalty, and Bigger Results.
Phase 3: Build Relationships Without Flattery
Trust grows faster when people feel respected, heard, and supported. Help others. Appreciate sincerely. Stay professional under pressure. Do not confuse networking with manipulation. Genuine goodwill creates powerful long-term credits.
As Avinash Chate, I often remind participants that relationship strength becomes visible most clearly during conflict. Anyone can be warm when things are easy. Mature professionals stay constructive when things are tense.
Phase 4: Earn the Right to Be Different
Once you have built enough competency, conformity, and loyalty credits, you can begin to express stronger opinions, suggest changes, and bring more of your individual style. At this stage, your difference is seen as contribution, not rebellion.
This is the real lesson behind why some people “get away” with more. They have earned room to stretch because they first proved their value.
Why Leaders Must Understand This Concept Carefully
There is another side to this conversation. Leaders must understand idiosyncrasy credits without becoming unfair. If you are a manager, you cannot allow accumulated goodwill to become a license for repeated irresponsibility. Trust should create flexibility, not double standards.
In my leadership sessions, I connect this with the KITE Leadership Framework. Strong leaders balance empathy with expectations. They recognize contribution, but they also protect standards. They understand context, but they do not let bias destroy team morale.
If one team member keeps getting exceptions while others feel judged harshly, resentment grows. That resentment weakens culture, collaboration, and motivation. This is why accountability must remain visible. If this topic interests you, read Accountability vs Blame: The Leadership Lesson I Learned from S S Rajamouli.
Fair leadership does not mean treating everyone identically in every situation. It means applying judgment with transparency, consistency, and maturity.
How to Use This Insight Without Becoming Political
Whenever I speak to ambitious professionals, one fear comes up repeatedly. They ask me, “Do I have to play politics to succeed?” My answer is no. You do not need manipulation. You need awareness.
Idiosyncrasy credits are not about gaming the system. They are about understanding human behavior. Every workplace runs on trust, contribution, perception, and relationships. If you ignore these realities, you may remain sincere but ineffective. If you understand them, you can grow with integrity.
Start by asking yourself a few honest questions. Do people see me as dependable? Do I contribute beyond my role? Do I respect team norms? Do others trust my intentions? Am I building a reputation that gives me influence?
These questions matter in every career stage. They matter for individual contributors, managers, sales professionals, and entrepreneurs. They matter whether you are trying to gain visibility, lead a team, or build a culture of ownership.
If you are looking for broader inspiration on energizing people and building growth mindsets, you may also enjoy Motivational Speaker in Mumbai for Powai's Startup Ecosystem — Energizing Teams Near IIT Bombay's Innovation Hub.
The Real Secret: Build Credits Before You Need Them
The biggest lesson I want you to remember is simple. Do not wait for a crisis to build credibility. Build it every day. The professionals who seem powerful in difficult moments usually prepared for those moments long before they arrived.
When your reputation is strong, your mistakes are judged with context. When your intention is trusted, your feedback is heard with openness. When your value is visible, your uniqueness is tolerated with respect.
That is the real power of idiosyncrasy credits.
Avinash Chate believes that long-term success is not built by shortcuts. It is built by competence, character, communication, and contribution. If you want to grow your influence at work, focus less on who is getting away with what and more on what you are depositing into your own invisible account every single day.
If you want to build stronger leadership, communication, motivation, and team effectiveness in your organization, book a corporate training session with Avinash Chate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are idiosyncrasy credits in the workplace?
Idiosyncrasy credits are the invisible trust and goodwill a person earns through competence, reliability, loyalty, and positive contribution. These credits often influence how much flexibility or tolerance they receive at work.
Why do some employees get more freedom than others?
Some employees have built stronger credibility over time. Because they are seen as valuable and dependable, managers and teams may give them more benefit of the doubt when they make mistakes or challenge norms.
How can I build idiosyncrasy credits ethically?
You can build them by delivering consistent results, respecting team norms, supporting shared goals, communicating well, and building genuine professional relationships without flattery or manipulation.
Can idiosyncrasy credits lead to unfairness?
Yes, if leaders are not careful. Trust and flexibility are useful, but repeated exceptions for a few people can create resentment. Good leaders balance context with accountability and maintain fairness across the team.
How does this concept help in career growth?
It helps you understand that influence is earned before it is exercised. When you build credibility consistently, your ideas are heard more seriously, your mistakes are judged more fairly, and your leadership potential becomes more visible.
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About the Author
Avinash Chate is a TEDx speaker, published author of The Winning Edge and The Unanswered, and founder of The Future Corporate & Business Coaching. With over 15 years of experience training 80+ organizations including Morbull Solutions, Global-Tech India Pvt Ltd, Bangdiwala Group, JSW Steel, Avinash is recognized as Maharashtra's leading corporate trainer. He created the KITE Leadership Framework and the 25-Star Competency Framework™, delivering high-impact programs across leadership, team building, sales transformation, and emotional intelligence.
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By Avinash Chate — Maharashtra’s #1 Corporate Trainer & Motivational Speaker. .