When Your CEO Sees What You Can't: On Receiving Recognition You Weren't Ready For
On the gap between what you've achieved and what you'll allow yourself to see
Sharon came to our session with fantastic news I wasn't expecting.
Even worthy of my cheesiest wink ;)
Her CEO had promoted her to the C-Suite. And early!
Eight to sixteen months ahead of the dates towards which we'd been working.
He'd seen what she was capable of, even when she'd assumed he hadn't really noticed.
As you can imagine, Sharon was delighted.
Clearly the 'executive presence' criticism she'd first received all those months before, when we first started working together, had been put to bed.
But within about ten seconds, she was already talking about the challenges ahead.
The things she wasn't sure about. All the many ways she might fall short.
So I stopped her.
"We will get to all that, but first — what would you like to give yourself credit for?"
She paused and blinked…hard.
The question that's harder than any strategic challenge
It was, genuinely, a hard question for her.
Harder than any of the strategic challenges she'd been about to list.
For someone who had spent years cataloguing what needed fixing; in her organisation, in her team, in herself , stopping to acknowledge what she had actually done was almost physically uncomfortable.
Eventually, she said: "Well, these sessions gave me space to really think deeply about what I don't want and why and what I do want. That meant I could get much more focused on where I should be putting my energy."
She paused again. Then: "I think that's what got me here."
This connects directly to a pattern I write about in how to stop waiting for recognition at work — the women who are best at earning recognition are often the least equipped to receive it when it arrives.
The quality that works against you
That's the thing about being someone who is always moving forward: you get very good at spotting the next gap, the next challenge, the next thing that needs attention.
It's one of the qualities that no doubt makes you exceptional at what you do!
It's also the quality that can make it almost impossible to stop and register how far you've actually come.
Sharon's CEO saw what she'd achieved before she did.
That happens more often than you might think.
It's something I explore in why letting your work speak for itself is costing you the promotion.
The people above you are often watching more carefully than you realise. The problem isn't that they can't see it.
It's that you can't.
What holding up a mirror actually changes
The senior women I work with through executive coaching for senior women in STEM aren't short of capability or ambition.
What they sometimes need is someone to ask the questions Sharon found so difficult and to sit with them while they find the right answers for themselves.
Not to be told what they've achieved.
To be given the space to see it for themselves.
That's a different thing entirely.
And it's often the shift that changes everything that comes next.
If that's you; if you're someone who's better at spotting the next gap than celebrating the ground you've already covered, I'd love to have a conversation.
Email me at suzanne@doylemorris.com to arrange a chemistry call.
Welcome to my Blog
I'm Dr Suzanne Doyle‑Morris and I support professional women working in STEM.
Whether you’re seeking your next promotion, aiming for leadership, or simply looking to make your mark, this blog is created for you.
It's written for the ambitious woman in STEM ready to advance and succeed on her own terms.
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Your roadmap to advancement with balance.
The Women in Tech Promotion Playbook is a practical, evidence-based guide.
It's designed solely for ambitious women in STEM who want to advance their careers without burning out.
Drawing on over 25 years of coaching, research and consultancy, I outline five strategic steps that help women move from being overworked and under-recognised to confident, visible leaders.
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The Women in Tech Promotion Playbook
Your roadmap to advancement with balance
The Women in Tech Promotion Playbook is a practical, evidence-based guide designed for ambitious women in STEM who want to advance their careers without burning out. Drawing on over 25 years of coaching and research, I outline five strategic steps that help women move from being overworked and under recognised to confident, visible leaders.
