Getting handed the keys is a quiet kind of success. Somebody decided you were worth the risk.

LEADERSHIP

WHAT THIS MEANS

Being trusted with something is a result, even though nothing gets announced. Somebody weighed up whether you would turn up, lock up, and tell the truth if it went wrong, then accepted the consequences of being mistaken about you, which is a judgment about your character rather than your performance. It does not feel like an achievement because there is no ceremony attached. It is one of the better ones available.

So notice it when it happens, and notice who extended it. Then protect it in the boring way: do the thing exactly as you said, particularly on the nights when nobody would know.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Who trusted you with something before you felt ready for it?

MORE IN AMBITION, SUCCESS & LEGACY

Free, with nothing to buy inside it.