The Talent You Take for Granted

Everyone has a moment in their career when a manager took them for granted. Mine came in my early thirties.

My boss leaned on my talent constantly. She asked for my opinion on the most sensitive and confidential matters. I wrote the strategies and taught her how to execute them. In many ways, I built the platform for her success. Yet she rarely gave me exposure to the board or to the senior executives who shaped careers in that organization. I was writing the script and directing the scene, and I was never allowed on stage.

Years later she sent me a card. In it, she admitted that she had taken my talent for granted because she saw it as a threat to her own advancement, and she apologized. I kept that card. It reminds me that being taken for granted is rarely about your performance. It is usually about the other person's fear.

It also taught me something about my own responsibility. When you are being taken for granted, you have to speak up, not as a victim, but as a professional who wants to understand your manager's intentions. If you don't ask, you will never get closer to the truth.

Why It Happens More Now

Teams are leaner. Workloads are heavier. Managers are stretched across hybrid schedules, AI rollouts and constant restructuring. In that environment, it becomes easy to rely on the people who always deliver and forget to invest in them. Quiet high performers are especially at risk, because their excellence becomes invisible the moment it becomes expected. Here are six signs it may be happening, whichever side of the relationship you are on.

1. Hierarchy Becomes the Tool

Some managers use their authority simply because they can. They advance their own goals while minimizing the needs of their team, assuming no one will have the courage to confront them. Over time, they lose their best talent and the respect of those who remain.

2. They Need to Be the Hero

Managers who believe they must have every answer rarely use the real experts on their teams. I once reported to a manager who knew very little about my clients but consistently inserted himself into those relationships so he could claim credit for new business. Respect is earned. It can't be taken from the performance of the people you lead.

3. They Have Already Decided Your Value

A client once told me she didn't value one of her employees because she believed his network and leadership skills were too limited. Rather than develop him, she simply demanded more and never acknowledged his effort. If you sense your manager has written you off, ask for honest feedback. Don't let a negative perception harden while you guess. You either fit in your manager's plans or you don't, and you deserve to know which.

4. Jealousy Creeps In

A position on the org chart doesn't make someone immune to feeling threatened. When a manager stops inviting you to important conversations or makes information harder to reach, jealousy may be at work. Study the dynamics of the relationship. Understanding why it exists is the first step to easing it.

5. Excellence Becomes the Expectation

When someone performs well consistently, their work becomes the baseline. They are the first person called when something critical must get done, and the last person thanked. If this describes you, hold your manager accountable in a constructive way. Help them see what matters most: results built on strong teams, where people are prepared for both success and significance.

6. They Don't Know Your Story

When a manager doesn't know where you come from, how you naturally think or what drives you, they take you at face value. That is when people get overlooked. This is where personalization matters most: leaders can only enable full potential when they understand the individual behind the output. But don't place all of the responsibility on your manager. Help them know you.

What to Do This Week

If you lead people:

• List the three people you rely on most. Write down when you last invested in their growth, not just their output.
• Give one of them exposure to a senior leader or decision they would not otherwise reach.
• Ask each of them what they want their next chapter to look like.

If you feel taken for granted:

• Request a direct conversation about how your contributions are seen and where you are headed.
• Share one part of your story your manager likely doesn't know.
• Clarify what visibility and development you need in the next six months.

Being taken for granted is painful, but it can become one of your most valuable lessons. It teaches you to own your career, to name what you need and to lead differently when it is your turn. And when your turn comes, remember how it felt. Make sure the people who make you successful are never merely recognized, but truly respected.

Want to explore these ideas further? Learn more about my work on leadership, identity and conviction at www.theglennllopis.com.