Good story. I guess you had done with your work there. Sometimes teams/places have a way of naturally helping us move to the next stage.

Competences work at multiple levels, visible and invisible. Being good at your job. Showing you're good at your job. Believing in your job. Getting other people to believe in your job. Getting other people to believe that you believe in your job... and so on ad absurdum. Once one part of that slips the whole game can unravel fast.