"I only got promoted because someone left."

"I only got promoted because someone left."
That's how Agnieszka (𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥) celebrated two years of crushing every target.

Her team retention: 95%.
Her project delivery: flawless.
Senior leadership's words: "exceptional".

Her response during a coaching session? "𝗜'𝗺 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁."

Here's what actually happened:
Agnieszka didn't just meet expectations. She rebuilt a failing team. Saved three at-risk accounts. Mentored a bunch of people into promotions.

But when I said congratulations, she gave me her improvement list:
↳ "Would've gotten it sooner if..."
↳ "Should've spoken up more"
↳ "Could've done it faster"

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

One question changed everything:
"What would you tell your best friend who just got this promotion?"
Long pause.
"That they absolutely earned it."
Longer pause.
"Oh."

That "oh" was the sound of a lie breaking.

The lie that celebrating means bragging.
That excellence requires eternal dissatisfaction.
That "good enough" is the enemy when you're already great.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆.

Because it says your achievements don't count unless they're perfect.

When did you last celebrate without adding "but"?

#leadership #impostersyndrome #success