5 Career Myths Standing Between You and Your Next Level

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Key Takeaways

- Nonlinear careers build stronger, more adaptable skillsets than traditional ladder-climbing paths ever could.

- Lateral moves and strategic risks often accelerate long-term growth more than safe, predictable choices.

- No one owns your career but you — define your direction and pursue it intentionally.

I recently interviewed a senior candidate who confessed that his career had “meandered.” I’ve never liked that word — and I don’t think he was being fair to himself. Far from wandering aimlessly from one position to the next, he had intentionally built a unique toolkit.

To me, that’s not a red flag; it’s a competitive advantage.

It also showed curiosity. He wasn’t afraid to step outside of his comfort zone, start over, and learn new skills. That is exactly the mindset I look for — especially in the age of AI.

As the President and CFO of a Fortune 500 company, and someone whose own career hasn’t followed a traditional path, I’ve seen the value of following your curiosity and embracing unexpected pivots.

Unfortunately, many people still cling to old ideas about the “natural” shape of a career: Get a job, get your boss’s job, get your boss’s boss’s job, and keep climbing until you reach the top.

In 2026, that’s an outdated notion. What might once have been sensible career advice is now a series of myths that may be holding people back from reaching their true potential.

Myth 1: Success is only possible by climbing the corporate ladder

I encourage new hires to focus less on the corporate ladder and more on their personal career North Star. Define your own professional mission — and then pursue opportunities that build the skills to serve it.

Sometimes that means staying put when you have more to learn, even when it requires passing on a shiny new opportunity. When I started at EY, I quickly realized I wanted a career that went beyond accounting. Yet I stayed longer than people might have expected, because I could feel myself building skills I’d need for the career I actually wanted.

During that time, I watched peers climb the career ladder and land $10,000 raises. Based on my goals, however, pursuing every pay raise and title bump, regardless of learning opportunities, would have been short-sighted.

Myth 2: A lateral move hurts your career

I often hear people worry about making lateral moves. “Will it look like a failure? Like I’ve lost momentum?”

I have never met a C-suite executive who feels that way. Lateral moves are a smart way to develop business IQ and build an enterprise-wide perspective that’s particularly valuable later in one’s career.

Again, it’s about focusing on your North Star. What are the crucial skills that will get you there? If you want to be a leader, for example, you might seek experience running meetings and translating strategy into priorities. If you want to launch your own startup one day, then you might instead seek experience owning a project end-to-end or pitching to stakeholders. There’s nothing wrong with making a lateral move that doesn’t boost your pay or title, so long as you’re growing the skillset you need.

In my organization, we even offer early-in-career rotation programs to develop the next generation of AI-first Finance and Strategy leaders by ensuring people gain experience across every facet of the department.

Myth 3: There are risk-free paths to growth

People often think it’s safer to stay in one job or organization. That may be true in the short run, but a lack of varied experience can also be risky. A twenty-year stint at a single firm, for example, might signal a passivity that doesn’t serve you well in this moment of rapid change.

I often quote Ginni Rometty, who believes growth and comfort do not coexist. You don’t want to take mindless gambles, but you do need to embrace strategic risk—what I call “risks with a parachute.” When you encounter a risky opportunity that you know will force you outside of your comfort zone and help build your toolkit, you must be willing to take it.

In my career, I moved from accounting at a Big 4 accounting firm to Controller in the global consumer products industry to CFO in enterprise technology in the AI era. Some called those leaps risky, but each move was strategic and intentional, designed to fill a gap in my experience that I needed as I became the leader I am today. (By the way, it never ends…I’m still taking risks, learning and growing!)

Myth 4: Your company will direct your career

One of the biggest career mistakes I see is assuming an organization or manager will connect the dots for you, spot your potential, and steer you toward work you’ll find most fulfilling.

While many companies and leaders certainly help employees grow an