There’s a belief most professionals carry — usually without realising it. If I do excellent work, it will be recognised. It sounds reasonable. It feels fair. And in most organisations, it’s quietly wrong. Not because people don’t value good work.But because the people shaping your career rarely see it directly. They’re not in the detail of your projects.They’re not observing your day-to-day performance. They’re relying on something else. Second-hand impressions. Reputation. W

Most career advice sounds reasonable on the surface. Work hard. Be visible. Build your network. Ask for what you want. The problem is that it rarely explains why  any of it works — or more importantly, why it so often doesn't. I've spent 15 years working inside organisations as a psychologist, studying how career decisions actually get made. And the single most consistent pattern I've seen is this: the people who progress aren't necessarily the most talented or the hardest wo