The Cost of Career Success in the Wrong Direction
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
For almost two decades, I kept rewriting my professional story.
Architect. Interior architect. Leader. Projects in Türkiye and the German market. International work. From the outside, coherent and impressive. And in many ways, it truly was.
But success can blur self-awareness.
The better I performed, the harder it felt to question the direction. Competence creates momentum. Momentum shapes identity...
If I’m honest, something inside wasn’t fully right.
Through expat transitions, full-time motherhood, returning to architecture, and eventually shifting into career coaching and leadership development in Austria, I finally found my authentic contribution.
Today, working with corporate professionals across Europe and globally, I see the same pattern. High competence. Recognised success.
And an unfulfilled need for growth in the right direction. This is where many high-performing professionals get stuck.
Problem: Career direction remains unexamined
Many professionals are not unhappy enough to leave. Not dissatisfied enough to risk financial stability. But not fully aligned either.
Mortgages, families, financial commitments are real. And this is where many of my earlier clients struggled.
The need for stability was stronger than the dream of reinvention.
Solution: Designing Direction with Authenticity
Career clarity for corporate professionals is more about strategic reflection and alignment within existing structures than about passion hunting.
Instead of asking, “What is my passion?” Ask: “Where can I test my strengths at the next level without collapsing what I’ve built?”
In her TEDx talk, The Authenticity Paradox, Professor Herminia Ibarra explains that clarity doesn’t come from waiting. It comes from experimentation.
We become clearer through exposure to new roles and responsibilities.
And this is where a more mature approach to career clarity begins.
3 Strategic Moves to Apply Immediately
💎 Run Micro-Experiments Inside Your Organisation. Test your next identity inside your current environment.
💎 Make Your Unique Strengths Visible.
💎 Redefine Growth Beyond Vertical Promotion.
February is a good month for this reflection. The energy of resolutions fades. Strategy becomes visible.
If you recognise yourself in this pattern, successful, competent, but sensing that your direction needs sharper architecture, this is the work we do inside my coaching program Career Clarity Project.
Impulsive reinvention? No.
Structured, strategic alignment for growth? Yes.
I would be glad to design your aligned and authentic career move with you.
Warmly, Dilek
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