By Blessing Kemlo
We often describe career success as a ladder. But careers can grow through sideways moves, new responsibilities, specialist expertise, reinvention and decisions that do not immediately increase a job title or salary.
Ask people what career progress looks like, and many will describe a familiar sequence: a better job, a higher salary, a promotion, a more senior title and greater authority.
These are legitimate ambitions. Financial security matters, recognition matters, and employees should have opportunities to advance. But the ladder is an incomplete picture of career development.
It can make people believe that every move must be upward, even when a different move would provide the experience, flexibility or capabilities they need for their longer-term goals.
The cost of measuring progress by title alone
Consider an experienced professional who moves from a senior role in one industry to a less senior position in another. On paper, the move may look like a step backwards. In reality, it could provide exposure to a new market, different technologies, broader responsibilities or an opportunity to enter a field with stronger long-term prospects.
Now consider an employee who receives a promotion but spends several years performing almost identical work with a more impressive title. The title has changed. Their capabilities may not have expanded significantly.
These examples do not mean titles and promotions are unimportant. They show that career progress should be assessed against more than one measure. A job can increase status without increasing future options. A lateral move can create opportunities that are not immediately visible.
Four forms of career growth
1. Vertical growth. This involves promotion, increased responsibility, leadership or movement into more senior positions. It can provide greater influence, remuneration and decision-making authority.
2. Horizontal growth. This involves moving into a different function, industry or type of work at a similar level. It can broaden experience and help professionals understand how different parts of a business operate.
3. Specialist growth. This involves deepening expertise in a valuable area without necessarily moving into people management. Technical mastery, professional accreditation and recognised specialist capability can all create meaningful progression.
4. Portfolio growth. This involves building a combination of capabilities, projects, qualifications and experiences that create options across different roles or types of work. It may be particularly relevant to people exploring consulting, entrepreneurship or portfolio careers.
Different forms of growth suit different circumstances. The objective is to choose deliberately rather than assume that only one route counts.
Ask what you want the next move to make possible
- What capability do I want to develop? Identify a specific capability rather than a vague ambition to grow.
- What kind of work do I want to do more often? Consider the activities that energise you, the problems you enjoy solving and the responsibilities you want to take on.
- What financial realities must I respect? Career decisions exist within real financial obligations. A move that creates valuable experience may still be impractical if it cannot meet essential needs.
- What options could this move open later? Consider the experience, relationships, evidence of performance and professional credibility you might gain.
- What am I moving towards, and what am I moving away from? Understand whether a decision is driven by a positive ambition, an unsustainable situation or a mixture of both.
You do not need perfect answers. You need enough clarity to evaluate your options against your actual circumstances.
Build evidence, not just aspirations
Career development becomes more practical when ambition is translated into evidence. If you want to move into leadership, look for opportunities to lead a project, coach a colleague, manage a budget or coordinate work across teams.
If you want to change industries, identify which of your existing capabilities transfer and which gaps you need to address. If you want to become a specialist, examine the standards, tools and demonstrated experience that employers or clients value in that field.
If you want to start a business, test demand, understand your costs and learn how to acquire and serve customers before assuming that enthusiasm alone will sustain the venture.
A qualification may be useful, but it is not automatically the answer. The right development investment depends on the evidence required for the next step.
Your current position is not your permanent identity
People sometimes remain in roles because they believe their experience has made them suitable for only one kind of work. They may have spent years in administration, customer service, operations, recruitment, finance or another specialisation. They know what they can do today, but they struggle to imagine how their capabilities could transfer elsewhere.
The solution is not to dismiss their experience. It is to examine it more carefully. A professional who coordinates complex schedules may have project-management capabilities. Someone who resolves customer problems may possess analytical, communication and negotiation skills. An experienced operational employee may understand risk, quality, process improvement and stakeholder management.
Transferable capabilities still need to be demonstrated and matched to the requirements of a new role. But they can create possibilities beyond a familiar job title.
Design a career that reflects your life
Career decisions also interact with family responsibilities, health, finances, location and personal priorities. A prestigious promotion that requires unsustainable hours may not be the right decision at every stage of life. A lateral move that provides stability or new skills may be valuable even if it attracts less external recognition.
There is no universal formula. What matters is understanding the trade-offs and making a decision that fits your circumstances and longer-term direction.
The better question
Instead of asking only, “How do I move up?”, ask: “What kind of professional do I want to become, what work do I want to be capable of doing, and what evidence will help me get there?”
That question creates more room for strategic decisions.
At Govel Fraser, we believe career intelligence begins with understanding the individual: their capabilities, experience, ambitions and opportunities for growth. A CV records part of a person’s history. It does not define every possibility in their future.
Your next move does not have to impress everyone else. It needs to make sense for the future you are building.
Govel Fraser | Unlocking Dignity Through Opportunity.