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When I made the decision to step away from my role as vice president of human resources and take a senior manager position within the same department, I expected people to be shocked. Some thought something had gone wrong. Others wondered why anyone would intentionally move back from a hard-earned leadership role.
They were wrong.
My decision was intentional, as it was what I needed at this stage of my life and career. It was hard to explain -- not because I was confused about it, but because the people around me were. And that reaction taught me something: most of us are still measuring professional success through a single lens of upward movement.
The Limits of the Career Ladder
We grow up getting conditioned to the same story that careers are like ladders. Start at the bottom and work your way up. A promotion means you're winning; anything else means you're falling behind.
But not everyone's higher education career fits into this model. Colleges and universities are complicated places. The people who understand them best are the ones who spend time in the weeds, across departments, learning the dynamics of how everything fits together.
The challenge with a ladder mindset is that it assumes there is a single standard definition of success. In reality, career goals change, and so does your life. What felt like the right definition of success at one stage may feel completely wrong at another.
We're not just professionals. We're also parents, partners, and caregivers, and we're trying to figure out how to hold it all together. Real success comes from finding alignment between the two, not sacrificing one significantly for the other.
Why Higher Education Careers Are Often Nonlinear
Someone might start with student affairs and end up in academic administration. Another person moves through HR, compliance, and institutional effectiveness before stepping into a broader leadership role. On paper, some of these moves don't look like progress. In practice, they build something promotions alone can't: perspective and diverse experience.
Working in different areas can help you understand how the college or university works as a whole and how different departments work together. It can also help you become a leader who can think about the big picture.
This approach is like a "career lattice" rather than a career ladder. A lattice moves in multiple directions - sideways, upward, sometimes backward, depending on what the person needs at that point in their life. Moving in a career lattice might be a less satisfying visual than moving up on a career ladder, but it's often a lot more honest.
My Own Career Pivot
For a long time, I functioned under the same assumption everyone else does: more responsibility, bigger title, keep climbing. And reaching Vice President felt like proof that it was working.
Reaching that level felt rewarding and meaningful. It represented years of commitment, hard work, and dedication.
But somewhere in there, I started asking a different question:
"Am I succeeding in all the areas of my life that matter to me?"
I kept pushing my family, faith, and hobbies to the weekends. All these things mattered to me just as much as my career did. And the VP role was slowly crowding them out. I wanted to be present for my son. I wanted to stop feeling like I was constantly behind on everything that wasn't work. I stopped asking how I could advance further and started asking how I could create greater alignment between my professional and personal life.
With the support of my institution's leadership, I stepped into the senior manager role. I kept doing work I cared about but also had more time for personal priorities. I got my life back a little.
And yes, it was unusual. It taught me an important lesson: success is not defined solely by the title. It is also measured by sustainability, well-being, fulfillment, and the ability to show up fully in the areas of life that matter most. I clearly understood that the definition of success is different for everyone, and you are the only one who can define what success is to you.
My decision to move into a senior manager role was not about giving up ambition. It was about redefining it.
Other Paths, Similar Lessons
My experience is not unique. I spoke with Cynthia McDaniel, a higher education finance leader who spent more than three decades working across multiple institutional functions. She started her career in the bursar's office. After having a child, she moved to part-time work; not because her ambition disappeared, but because she felt it was the right thing to do at that stage of her life. Over the next 15 years, she worked across finance, financial aid, enrollment management, HR, advancement, and academic affairs. Upon returning full-time, she advanced quickly to become vice president for finance and administration. Later, she intentionally stepped into a controller role and eventually another position with greater flexibility while supporting her son's cancer treatment. She told me something I keep coming back to: "I have never experienced any of these moves as a failure. The more useful question is: What season of life am I in, and what kind of work fits that season?"
Nikki Smith, an admissions counselor, has worked across multiple industries and held roles in academic affairs, human resources, and now admissions. She shared that "my career trajectory has been nonlinear, but each industry I've worked in and each position I've held has widened my experience and perspective." Nikki's path wasn't linear, but each move added something valuable and helped shape the professional she is today.
These stories signify that career decisions are not always as simple as they appear from the outside. What might look like a step backward or sideways can actually be a sign of growth and success.
In many cases, these decisions create stronger, more self-aware, and more resilient leaders with broader perspectives.
Redefining Success
My important lesson learned through my decision to step away from the VP position is that success is personal.
For some people, success means leading a large division or becoming a college president. For others, it may mean becoming the best at something specific or doing work that feels meaningful without burning everything else down to get there.
None of these definitions of success is wrong.
The real problem is the assumption that there's only one acceptable answer; that everyone must take the same road to get there.
Colleges and universities must recognize that there are different paths to success so that they can create an environment where people can make choices based on what they want to learn, what they care about, and what will make them happy in the long run.
Likewise, when we are self-aware, we define what success means to us. And then we can make choices that lead to a fulfilling career.
Beyond the Ladder
Higher education is built on the idea that learning doesn't stop. Reaching the top of the hierarchy does not mean you can stop learning. There is always room to learn and grow. It's a little strange, then, that we've been so slow to apply that thinking to how we view careers.
Not every meaningful career move comes with a promotion or a new title. Sometimes growth looks like a lateral shift, a step into unfamiliar territory, or -- yes -- a step back from a role that no longer fits.
The most meaningful definition of career success is one that reflects our values, priorities, and purpose. For many higher education professionals, that journey may look less like a ladder and more like a lattice, and that is perfectly okay.
