The nicest thing they say about you is the reason you are still here.

"Reliable."

They mean it warmly.
It shows up in reviews. In intros. In the meeting after you leave.

Here is what it looks like from the inside.

The project kicks off and you are in the second meeting.
↳ The decision was made in the first one.

Your review says "exceptional execution."
↳ Then one line about strategic thinking with no example attached.

They ask you to build it.
↳ Nobody asks you whether it should be built.

You get handed this quarter's problem.
↳ Nobody brings you next year's.

You are the person they hand the hard thing to.
↳ Not the person they ask what the hard thing means.

Every one of those is a compliment on the surface.
Underneath they all say the same thing: executor, not strategist.

When the bigger role opens, your name comes up.

Then someone says:
"We can't afford to move her. She holds too much together."

Reliable is a compliment.
It is also a ceiling.