What Performance Reports Don’t Tell You About Success

There’s a silent paradox in the corporate world: behind the brightest professionals, there is often someone who secretly feels like a fraud.

Yesterday, I had a mentoring session with a client I deeply admire. She’s the mother of a 3-year-old child and, at the same time, holds a high-level leadership role at one of the largest companies in the consumer goods sector. That combination alone would deserve recognition, but what truly stands out to me is the presence and grace with which she makes it all happen.

In recent years, she has consistently delivered results, exceeded targets, maintained a highly engaged team with minimal turnover, and expanded her client portfolio. Her name is respected within the company. She is seen as both a technical and behavioural role model.

For the past two months, I’ve been supporting her transition into a new challenge.

She was invited to lead a strategic part of a project that could represent up to a 5% increase in revenue for the company’s business unit in Latin America - a move that involves team management, stakeholder engagement, and leading internal change. It’s a role that could open new doors in her career.

But, contrary to what one might expect, this transition hasn’t been met with excitement.

Instead, it’s been filled with doubt, insecurity, and a quiet discomfort - one she often struggles to name.

And perhaps this raises a question that many silently carry:

How can someone with such a solid track record still doubt herself?

That’s when a familiar feeling shows up - more common than we imagine, especially among high performers: the Impostor Syndrome.

This feeling feeds on what isn’t visible in performance reviews, promotions, or applause.

Professionals like her often get to where they are by holding themselves to impossible standards, always going the extra mile, anticipating criticism before it arrives. They build brilliant careers through excellence, but many are propelled by internal patterns that demand perfection, never let them rest, and whisper that one mistake could ruin everything.

In these cases, success coexists with relentless self-criticism.

A recent 360° assessment conducted with company executives made this clear:

Others see her through far more generous and confident eyes than she uses to see herself.

And that’s exactly where my role as a mentor begins to deepen.

When a high-achieving professional struggles to recognize their own competence, there’s usually an inner story trying to be heard - an emotional part that may have learned early on that they always had to prove themselves, or that even their best was never enough.

And no, it’s not weakness. It’s human.

This is what happens when parts of us remain stuck in past experiences, still waiting for validation, safety, or permission to exist.

With her, we’re working on exactly that, through the I-Avatars™ methodology, which I developed specifically for journeys like this:

To listen to those inner voices with respect, to welcome the emotions that arise, and to rebuild a truer self-image - not based on fear, but grounded in her story, her contribution, and the impact she already creates every day.

Because more important than delivering a successful project is experiencing the journey with lightness, autonomy, and joy.

It’s understanding that what she teaches her team also applies to herself:

That leadership is not just about hitting goals. It’s about leading yourself, with courage, compassion, and self-awareness.

And in the end, when she sees herself more clearly, the entire system around her becomes stronger:

• Her team gains more autonomy

• The company becomes more agile and human

• Clients feel the difference

• And she walks forward with more confidence, less anxiety, and greater authenticity

The leadership journey doesn’t have to be lonely or exhausting.

When we reconnect with who we truly are, it stops being a burden and becomes a path we can walk with presence and joy.

That’s where leadership becomes lighter, more authentic, and infinitely more powerful.

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Have you ever felt this way or witnessed this dynamic in your workplace?

Feel free to share your perspective in the comments.

If this theme resonated with you, I invite you to explore the methodology that has been transforming the way leaders see and lead themselves:

🌐 https://www.valritis.com/quem-sou

Let’s connect on LinkedIn:

🔗 linkedin.com/in/valeria-ritis

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