10 min read • Career Transitions • Reflection 3
When we think about career transitions, we tend to focus on visible changes. A new role, a promotion, moving into leadership, or joining a different organisation all signal that something has changed. They are the milestones that appear on a CV, making it easy to assume that careers evolve through external events.
Looking back on many of the conversations I’ve had with sustainability professionals over the past few years, however, I have become increasingly interested in a different kind of transition. One that begins long before any external change takes place.
What changes first is often not the role itself, but the person performing it. The responsibilities may remain broadly the same, colleagues may continue to value their contribution, and from the outside everything appears stable. Internally, however, something has shifted. The work that once felt deeply engaging no longer offers the same sense of challenge or meaning, not because the role has deteriorated, but because the individual has continued to grow.
This has led me to believe that many career transitions begin as identity transitions.
Before people change jobs, they often begin changing how they see themselves professionally.
Professional identity rarely stands still
Professional identity develops much more gradually than careers do.
Early in our careers, much of our identity is built around expertise. We become known for solving particular problems, mastering a technical discipline, or consistently delivering high-quality work. Building that expertise creates confidence, credibility, and a clear sense of direction.
For many years, that feels entirely appropriate.
Experience, however, changes us. Every leadership challenge, difficult conversation, successful project, and unexpected setback subtly reshapes how we think about ourselves and the contribution we want to make.
At some point, many professionals begin noticing that the work which once defined them no longer fully reflects who they have become.
This does not necessarily mean they have chosen the wrong profession.
It often means they have outgrown an earlier version of themselves.
Why this seems especially common in sustainability
Although I suspect this happens in many professions, I have found it particularly common in conversations with experienced sustainability professionals.
Many people entered the field because they wanted to help organisations address some of society’s most complex challenges. Their careers were built on developing technical expertise and applying it to increasingly important sustainability questions.
As the profession has matured, however, so has the work.
Many experienced practitioners now spend far less time acting as technical specialists and far more time influencing leaders, navigating organisational complexity, developing teams, facilitating collaboration, and helping others make better decisions.
In other words, the nature of their contribution has changed.
It is therefore hardly surprising that their professional identity begins to evolve alongside it.
The challenge is that our roles do not always evolve at the same pace.
Three patterns I’ve repeatedly observed
Every career develops differently, but several patterns seem to emerge repeatedly.
1. You become more interested in enabling change than demonstrating expertise
Earlier in a career, becoming the expert is both motivating and necessary. Expertise creates credibility, and credibility opens opportunities.
Over time, however, many professionals discover that their greatest satisfaction no longer comes from being recognised as the person with the answers.
Instead, they become energised by helping others succeed. Developing leaders, creating alignment across teams, facilitating difficult conversations, and helping organisations navigate complexity become more fulfilling than demonstrating technical expertise.
The contribution shifts from providing answers to creating the conditions in which better answers can emerge.
2. The work that energises you increasingly sits at the edges of your role
One of the strongest indicators that professional identity is evolving is not dissatisfaction with the job itself. It is growing enthusiasm for activities that were once only a small part of it.
Perhaps you find yourself enjoying mentoring younger colleagues, facilitating workshops, speaking at conferences, writing, coaching, or building communities around ideas you care about.
These activities may occupy only a small proportion of your working week, yet they consistently leave you feeling more energised than the work you are formally responsible for.
Rather than dismissing that as a passing interest, it may be worth asking what it reveals about the kind of professional you are becoming.
3. You begin describing yourself differently
One of the most subtle changes appears in the language people use.
Earlier in our careers, we often define ourselves through our job title.
Later, many people begin describing the value they create rather than the position they hold.
Instead of introducing themselves as an ESG manager or sustainability consultant, they talk about helping organisations navigate complexity, developing leaders, or bringing people together around difficult sustainability challenges.
It may seem like a small shift in language.
In reality, it often reflects a much deeper shift in identity.
The focus moves away from what I do and towards how I contribute.
The question to sit with
If this reflection resonates with you, perhaps the question is not:
“What role should I pursue next?”
Perhaps it is:
“Has my professional identity already grown beyond the role I’m currently performing?”
That question rarely produces an immediate answer.
It does, however, explain why work that once felt deeply aligned may now feel incomplete despite every outward sign of success.
Sometimes the next chapter of a career does not begin with changing jobs.
It begins with recognising that the person you have become can no longer be fully expressed through the role you currently occupy.
Continue Exploring
If this reflection resonated with you, it may not be the only question you’re asking.
What’s Next? Eight Reflections on Career Transitions in Sustainability explores seven additional questions that frequently emerge as sustainability professionals navigate leadership, career transitions, and professional growth.
If you’d like to continue exploring these reflections, you can download the guide free of charge.
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