Job Description
A few months ago, I sat with a mid-level manager from a reputable company and I could immediately sense something familiar in her story. She had that calm strength you often see in people who have been holding an entire department together without ever raising their voice. The kind of leader who doesn’t make noise, and doesn’t hand over work halfway done.
Before she even spoke, I could tell she was the person everyone trusted when things went sideways. She was fixing proposals at dawn, stepping into meetings that weren’t hers, finishing tasks others had abandoned, and offering support long after everyone else had logged out. She wasn’t doing it for praise. She was doing it because she didn’t want anything to fall apart on her watch.
Not only was she reliable, but she had also become the invisible glue holding everything in place. Once people realise you can stretch, they keep stretching you because you make their chaos manageable.
What surprised her, and what might be surprising you, is that all this effort wasn’t opening doors. It was quietly closing them. This was because she had unintentionally created a reputation that worked against her. A reputation built on carrying burdens silently instead of shaping how people understood her value.
That conversation with this manager is the same conversation I want to have with you. Let’s dig into what was really happening to her, and what might be happening to you too.
1. The Truth About Being the ‘Go-To’ Person
In the beginning, it feels empowering. You’re needed and respected for your work ethic. But something subtle shifts along the way.
People stop seeing your potential and start seeing your availability. They start thinking of you as the person who gets things done, not the person who should be leading others to get things done. Your name gets attached to execution instead of strategy. Your value gets measured by how much you can carry, not by how far you can lead.
Being the go-to is about the assumptions people make about you. And if you don’t actively shape that narrative, others will shape it for you.
2. When You Deliver Too Much, You Hide Your Own Growth
When you are constantly rescuing projects, taking on others’ work, or holding the emotional load of the team, you unintentionally create space for everyone else to grow while you remain in place.
If you are always putting out fires, when do you build something of your own? Doing more than expected may make you indispensable, but it rarely makes you promotable.
3. Overperformance Creates the Illusion That You Don’t Need Support
Because she delivered consistently, and quietly, leaders assumed she was okay.
They assumed she had everything under control and that she didn’t need guidance, visibility, or mentorship.
Not only did this leave her out of high-level conversations, but it also put her in a corner she never asked for. Overperformance doesn’t just stretch you, it hides you.
It masks your struggles and convinces leaders that you’re “already sorted,” even when you’re drowning.
4. You Start Training People to Undervalue You
This truth is uncomfortable, but necessary. The more you give without boundaries, the more you teach people what they can take without asking. And in the corporate environment, once colleagues and supervisors get used to your extra mile, they start treating it as the normal mile.
The praise slows, recognition fades and the workload gets heavier. This is because you became convenient. And convenience is rarely rewarded.
5. Overdelivering Can Make You Invisible, Not Seen
When you overdeliver quietly, people enjoy the outcome, but they don’t register the effort. They don’t see the nights you stayed late, the clarity you brought to confusion, or the leadership you displayed when others were stuck.
Your work becomes invisible not appreciated just quietly consumed.
If You’re Done Being Overworked and Undervalued, It’s Time for a Shift. Your career shouldn’t feel like a trap you accidenstally built for yourself. You deserve clarity. You deserve influence. You deserve visibility.
Most importantly, you deserve to be recognised for the leader you already are, not the workhorse people assume you’ll always be.
If you’re ready to move from quiet execution to intentional influence, our Executive Career Coaching program is designed exactly for professionals like you. Because you’re ready to rise with strategy instead of struggle.
Let’s unlock the version of your career that finally matches the effort you’ve been pouring in for years.
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