The first rule from the book the 48 laws of power. It means to never ever show the full extent of your talents if it looks like it will pass your superior's.
Explanation: Superiors whether its teachers or bosses are just like any other people. They have insecurities and egos. Once you expose them they will do their best to bring you down to show they are at the top.
Jane was confused why she was fired even though she was the most talented worker in the company. She didn't realize she made her boss insecure and should Never Outshine The Master.
In Soviet prisons there was a class of men called opushchennye (degraded) who were required to fulfill the sexual needs of the rest. On the one hand, they were at the lowest rung of the social ladder, but they were sometimes protected by their lovers. And not only men charged with Article 121 were opushchennye: any prisoner could be degraded by ritualized rape - for losing at cards, over an insult, or even because his beauty made him an attractive sex object.