You take responsibility when things are falling apart.
You deliver under pressure, sometimes with timelines that were already committed to the entire organisation.
You don’t complain. You just make sure the work gets done.
And then life moves on.
The system you built keeps running.
The problem you solved is no longer visible.
Your effort slowly becomes “normal”.
This is where it starts to hurt.
Because later, when the same work is discussed again — maybe reworked, redesigned, or rebuilt — it suddenly gets attention. There are presentations, meetings, appreciation mails, and leadership visibility. Not always because the work was harder… but because this time, there was a story around it.
That’s when you realise something uncomfortable:
Organisations don’t always reward sacrifice. They reward narration.
Silent work often becomes invisible. Not because it wasn’t important, but because no one framed it. No one captured the pressure, the risk, or the impact. It was just “delivered”.
Storytelling, on the other hand, makes work visible. It explains why something mattered, what could have gone wrong, and how it was handled. Leaders remember stories. They repeat them. And recognition follows.
This doesn’t mean hard work has no value.
It means hard work without visibility leaks value.
For those who give their best and still feel unseen
A few learnings I wish I understood earlier:
- Don’t assume work will speak for itself. It usually doesn’t.
- Share outcomes, not effort. Long hours are invisible, impact is not.
- Close every project properly. A short summary goes a long way.
- Being reliable is good, but being visible is necessary.
- Silent sacrifices help organisations survive, but stories help careers grow.
This is not about showing off.
It’s about making sure your contribution is understood.
Hard work keeps things running.
Storytelling makes sure it is remembered.
