Welcome to chapter three of my corporate adventures series. Here are links to chapters 1 and 2.

Chapter 1: The Weight of Arrival
Chapter 2: Roots of Resilience

Chapter 3: Her Success Backfires

The project she was assigned in Germany suited her perfectly. Her role, together with another colleague, was to relaunch the English news section of the company’s webpage – a project that had been long buried amid higher priorities. The company wanted her to be the creative for this initiative.

Her colleague, Cheryl, had been with the team for nearly a year and a half when she was assigned. Cheryl’s primary role was handling technical tasks while feeding the news section with breaking stories when necessary. However, after a new technical expert was hired, Cheryl shifted focus to help bring the news section back to life.

Like a child let loose to colour on a blank white wall, her mind buzzed with ideas and excitement to share them and bring them to life. Without realising it, and driven by her desire to exhibit her creativity and skill, she adopted the habit of wearing her heart on her sleeve, saying what crossed her mind without giving it much thought.

This annoyed her colleague at times, as she unintentionally left no room for her colleague to express her own creativity. Feelings of animosity began to grow in Cheryl’s heart, whose personality was quite the opposite of her colleague’s. Cheryl was a calm and calculated woman who liked to keep her cards close to her chest.

The news section grew so fast that it caught the attention of the upper management. All eyes turned to the new hire, who radiated enthusiasm and talked about the project as if it were her own. And because she swiftly exceeded expectations, she also earned the unwavering support of her team leader, who championed every one of her ideas. But what truly tipped Cheryl over the edge was the moment when one of the executive board members openly and explicitly recognised her colleague in front of everyone in the room – something Cheryl never received despite her seniority on the team.

The recognition, however, didn’t hurt Cheryl alone. She was the first and most direct victim of her own success. Her openness and fiery passion proved to be more of a vice than a virtue. The more impressed the people around her were and the more acknowledgement she received, the more she depended on it. She entered a vicious cycle. A form of unhealthy attachment began to form between her and her job. Slowly, her self-worth became increasingly tied to people’s recognition.

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Chapter 4: A Fragile Sense of Pride… comes next

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