Written on April 6, 2026. To be published when the name on this document is on the list that matters.
On April 6, 2026, my direct supervisor Alec called me in for a sit-down.
I felt it before he said a word.
He told me I didn't meet the expectations of a technical manager. He gave me until May 12. He said I could resign to protect my 201 file from reflecting poor performance. He offered to refer me to his contacts because — his words — "I'm a good person. It's just the work responsibility I'm on that doesn't fit me."
My hands were shaking.
But I said: "I'll process this for now. Thanks for the feedback. I respect your decision."
Then I stood up, and I initiated the handshake.
And then we left.
I didn't resign. I finished the race.
I accepted the 201 record without fear. I chose to stay professional until May 12 and deliver a clean transition. Because the way you exit a room says everything about the man you are.
Partly sad. Partly happy. And a few minutes after — relieved.
That relief was my gut telling me the truth it had been holding for months. That role was shrinking me. One-man department. KRA politics. Probation anxiety. Corporate optics.
Some part of me knew every single day that I was built for something bigger than that box.
On being told I didn't meet expectations:
The mistake wasn't failing to meet their expectation. The mistake was accepting a role that asked me to shrink.
On the 201 record:
In 3 years when I'm being interviewed by nobody — when I am the one hiring — nobody will ever ask about it again.
On finishing till May 12:
Everyone in that building will remember me as the guy who stayed professional till the last day. That reputation travels.
On the handshake:
I didn't sneak out. I didn't resign out of fear. I looked him in the eye, shook his hand, and said without words — "I'm not running."
The line I screenshot that day:
Founders who've been fired, rejected, or told they didn't meet expectations — that list includes Bezos, Jobs, and every person who eventually built something that made the people who doubted them irrelevant.
The most dangerous version of me is the one with no corporate ceiling above him.
That guy shows up May 13th.
- Name: Koleen BP
- Date fired: April 6, 2026
- Deadline: May 12, 2026
- Title being chased: The Face of Technology in the Philippines
This file was written on the same day it happened. It is published now because the mission is complete.
If you're reading this and you're in the middle of your own April 6 — hold your handshake firm. The room you're walking into is bigger than the one you're leaving.
— @KBPsystem777