LibraryPatternsGetting PromotedA large part of how I see myself comes from the name …
Problem
Toward Craftsmanship

A large part of how I see myself comes from the name of where I work — its prestige is borrowed into my own identity. It means I cling to a job partly for the badge, and the thought of leaving the name frightens me more than leaving the work.

Part of the pattern: Getting Promoted
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The coach is replying…
You might also say it as
  • “my identity is tied to my employer name”
  • “I borrow prestige from where I work”
  • “I cling to the job for the badge”
The path forward
  1. 1Name what you're borrowing
  2. 2Separate your worth from the badge
  3. 3Consider the work itself, not just the name
One thing to try this week
Describe your work this week without naming your employer, focusing on what you actually do. Separating your value from the badge is what makes you portable.
Related problems
After being inside, I don't know who I am on the outside or whether I get a real second chance.After time away from work, I feel like I've lost my edge and everyone's passed me by.After time out — for children, illness, or a pause — I have come back to work without the identity I left with. The world moved on, my old confidence is gone, and I am not sure who I am professionally anymore now that I am returning.Anxiety about work performance leading to avoidance or paralysisAs I have become more successful, the people around me treat me differently — more deference, more distance, more assumptions about who I now am. I have what I worked for, and I feel oddly more alone inside it than I expected.As younger, fresher people rise around me, I feel myself quietly becoming obsolete — their tools, their references, their ease all reminders that the field is moving past the version of me that mastered it. My identity was built on being current, and I no longer am.

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