Recently, I noticed a large tree along a trail while walking in the park. Its trunk was covered in thick knots and growths, evidence of years spent adapting around stress or injury.

Trees don’t move when conditions change. They adjust.

They grow around obstacles. Over time, the trunk carries the evidence of those adaptations.

Work can look similar.

Many careers develop through persistence, competence, and the ability to adjust to changing expectations. We grow around challenges. We take on more responsibility. We learn how to navigate complex systems.

But sometimes, after years of adapting, a quiet question begins to surface:

“Am I still growing here, or simply continuing because I’ve learned how?”

That moment often marks the beginning of a career crossroads.

For me, that realization came a few years before I retired from Ohio State. I noticed that I was relying on the same skill set again and again. I was good at my work, and it continued to provide deep meaning. Yet I also found myself wondering how else I might grow. During that season of my career, I felt a pull to diversify and explore new ways to contribute.

At first, the signals were subtle. A sense of restlessness. Curiosity about different kinds of work. A growing awareness that while I could continue doing what I had always done well, something in me was asking whether I should.

WHY IT’S EASY TO STAY

There are many reasons people remain in organizations—stability, loyalty, colleagues, security, and benefits among them. Competence surrounds you in a protective layer: the praise you receive, the trust others place in you, the opportunities that come your way.

Your work identity forms around your expertise.

When you are capable, reliable, and respected, staying often feels like the responsible choice. And in many ways, it is.

But competence, the very quality that allows people to grow and succeed, can also make it harder to recognize when a season is changing. The systems around you reinforce what you already do well. Praise comes easily. Over time, it becomes harder to look beyond what is already working.  

It’s difficult to think about leaving a role when you are performing at your best.

Someone once told me she often found new opportunities when she was operating at her peak in her current role. Another person once said your best job is the one you are doing right now. For a long time, those ideas felt contradictory. Over time I’ve come to see both as true.

Maximizing growth and development where you are opens doors. When you are operating at a high level, you are in a growth mode. But peak performance rarely stays static forever. Sustaining it often requires reinvention or at least a willingness to evolve.  

THE COMFORT OF COMPETENCE

As I began to think about what might come next, I sought out several career coaches. They were willing to challenge my assumptions about competence while also helping me see where I delivered the strongest outcomes and what seemed to energize me most.

That kind of perspective can be invaluable.

When we become comfortable in our competence, it is easy to overlook subtle signals or miss the nuance of who we are becoming. The question can quietly shift from What else could I explore? to Why would I need to change anything?

Sometimes it’s those quiet voices or strong nudges from others that help us see ourselves more clearly.

My coaches helped me return to a fundamental question:

I can continue doing this work. But what might I be missing? And how important is that to me?

Success can quietly anchor us in place.

THE AMBIGUITY OF “GOOD ENOUGH”

I didn’t rush into a new job. Instead, I acknowledged the restlessness I was feeling and began exploring what else might interest me.

One approach that helped was focusing on areas where enthusiasm was high, but expertise was still developing. That space, high curiosity, lower mastery, can be energizing. It often becomes the place where growth begins again.

For me, that meant exploring education and leadership development. These were interests that were different from my primary role leading a large food and nutrition operations team.

Around that time, I was offered the opportunity to teach a semester-long leadership course in an allied health program. It was a perfect way to test that curiosity.

Exploration requires becoming a novice again. You must be willing to operate in a space where you are learning rather than fully formed. That shift can be uncomfortable, especially after years of expertise.

During this same period, I enrolled in a 25-hour course design and instruction workshop offered by my employer. I even used a week of vacation to immerse myself in learning new skills.

Becoming a beginner again was exhausting. Learning always is.

But it also allowed me to step outside the competence trap that had formed around my existing role.

Instead of marking time, I was expanding. Instead of continuing to grow around the same challenges, I was beginning to grow in new directions. I was learning new skills, testing new interests, and discovering ways those experiences strengthened the work I was already doing.

CAREER CROSSROADS ARE OFTEN QUIET

When people imagine career crossroads, they often think of dramatic moments: layoffs, major promotions, or complete career pivots.

But many crossroads begin much more quietly, often while everything still looks successful from the outside.  

They show up through curiosity. Through shifting priorities. Through the recognition that your capabilities might be applied in new ways.

Even my own transition began not with a major decision, but with changing interests and a willingness to explore.

A crossroads often begins with a simple realization:

I can keep doing this. But something in me is asking whether I should.

And from there, the next step isn’t necessarily action. Sometimes it is simply curiosity.

A QUESTION WORTH SITTING WITH

What season of work am I actually in right now? And what might that season be asking of me?

You don’t need to make immediate decisions when these moments appear.

But they are worth noticing.

Because the earlier we recognize these shifts, the more thoughtfully we can respond to them.

Careers rarely move in straight lines. They move through seasons of growth, mastery, reflection, and change.

LOOKING AHEAD

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing a few simple reflection tools designed to help people step back and understand where they are in their career journey, especially during seasons when the next step isn’t immediately obvious.

Because sometimes clarity begins with a pause.