Your Accomplishments Are Trying to Tell You Something

I hear some version of this all the time.

A woman tells me about a difficult project she led.

Competing priorities. Difficult personalities. An impossible deadline.

She figured it out.

And then, almost immediately, she says:

“But honestly, I was just doing my job.”

And there it is.

She remembers what happened.

But she misses what it reveals.

We spend a lot of time documenting what we've done.

Projects completed.

Goals reached.

Problems solved.

Teams led.

Challenges navigated.

But there's another question I think we should be asking:

What does this reveal about who I am?

Because completing the project is the accomplishment.

But perhaps the evidence reveals:

I create order in complexity.

I remain steady when things are uncertain.

I know how to bring people together.

I make decisions when there isn't an obvious answer.

I keep going when things get hard.

Those aren't affirmations.

They're conclusions supported by evidence.

And that's an important distinction.

Your accomplishments aren't just proof of what you've done. They're clues to who you are.

One of the exercises I often use with women I coach begins with four simple words:

I am a woman who...

Not who you hope to become.

Not who someone else tells you that you are.

Not who you think you should be.

Who does the evidence say you are?

Maybe:

I am a woman who speaks up when something matters.

I am a woman who creates calm in difficult situations.

I am a woman who finds another way when the first one doesn't work.

I am a woman who brings people together.

And here's what I find so powerful about this practice:

You aren't inventing an identity.

You're recognizing one that your life has been revealing all along.

Evidence does more than remind us of what we've accomplished.

Evidence reveals identity.

And when we begin to know what's true about ourselves, something else starts to change.

We begin to trust ourselves differently.

More on that next week.

For now, I'll leave you with the question:

What does the evidence of your life allow you to say after the words, “I am a woman who…”?

#HerNextNarrative #WomenInLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #SelfTrust #ExecutiveCoaching

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