Transforming Career Paths

If you lead, hire, or work in associations and events, you should be paying attention to whats happening with jobs in our space. As institutions, we’re accustomed to annualized stability, bureaucratic hierarchies, and long-term membership loyalty. Yet trying to serve a workforce that increasingly expects access, balance, flexibility, portability, and fluidity of opportunities. We’ve seen a wave of content lately covering the many ways jobs are changing as this plays out. Roles disappearing, inequalities resurfacing, career paths collapsing, wellness suffering, and the old playbook for advancement no longer tracking. Last month I listened to Colleen Harper, MPA, CAE of IES facilitate an intriguing discussion (pictured) with Adam Cantor of FordHarrison, Michael Weamer of The Marfan Foundation, and Becky Graham of Korn Ferry on how change is playing out in the c-suite. This week, I joined hundreds (or thousands?) who engaged with content by Julius Solaris of BoldPush who shared his list of 20 emerging roles in the events industry and Monique Ruff-Bell of TED who reminded us that what may seem like a “scattered skillset isn’t a bug, it’s your competitive advantage.” I deeply relate. 👀 I also heard futurist and foresight advisor Sinead Bovell frame job related shifts for new grads seeking their first entry to the workforce. She explained, “This is the start of the Independence Era in work. It’s the beginning of entrepreneurs and independent workers becoming the dominant fabric of the workforce. Where ‘jobs’ will become more of a patchwork of outsourcing your skills for several different projects.” I believe we are at the crossroads of all these trends. A few that Sinead helped me think more clearly about in particular, through her in depth foresight and expertise on the subject: 🌀Career ladders are evaporating. Associations and event organizations can’t promise 20-year climbs anymore. Traditional pathways (coordinator → manager → director → VP → CEO) are already flattening. My take: Forget the ladder—today’s progress is patchwork, built in every direction. 🌀 The shelf life of skills is shrinking. Skills that once carried weight for a decade may only stay relevant for 12–24 months. Constant upskilling and reskilling are now the norm, not the exception. Me take: Yesterday’s edge is tomorrow’s baseline. 🌀 The very idea of “career” is evolving. It’s less about titles and tenure, and more about how you deploy skills across contexts. For association and events professionals, that might mean toggling between staff roles, fractional leadership, facilitation, speaking, or project-based consulting. My take: The portfolio matters more than the position. Do these shifts resonate with you? How are you rethinking career pathways, professional development, and talent management? #Workforce #Career #Talent #IndependenceEra #NextFlex

6 in 10 leaders doubt their ability to inspire confidence in their teams and drive meaningful change. This statistic is startling, but even more so when you consider how much organizational success depends on leadership self-assurance. I recently worked with a client whose journey illustrates this perfectly. Her resume was impressive: years of experience in design, leadership in entrepreneurial ventures, and a reputation for delivering results. Yet, every time she considered applying for senior roles, self-doubt crept in. Her concern wasn’t about her skills, it was her perception of her career’s “nonlinear” nature. To address this, we engaged in what I call career archaeology; a systematic dive into her professional history. Together, we unpacked her roles, dissected her key achievements, and identified recurring patterns of leadership and problem-solving. What we uncovered was nothing short of transformative: She had led teams through complex, high-stakes projects. She had demonstrated resilience by pivoting during challenging times. Her nonlinear career path wasn’t a weakness—it was a portfolio of diverse and valuable experiences. This shift in perspective was pivotal. We rewrote her resume to reflect her unique trajectory, emphasizing her adaptability and depth. In interviews, we reframed her narrative, preparing her to articulate her impact with confidence. For the first time, she stopped seeing her career as fragmented and started recognizing it as distinctive, a story of innovation, resilience, and leadership. Nonlinear careers aren’t a disadvantage, they’re a strength.  They reveal adaptability, breadth, and depth. If you’ve ever felt stuck because your path doesn’t follow a traditional script, take a step back. The story you’re telling yourself might need rewriting—and it could be the key to unlocking your next opportunity. #careergrowth #selfreflection

🏢 Architects: The world is changing, and so are we. It's time to embrace the portfolio career - a diverse career path that allows you to pursue multiple passions and roles. We've been taught to limit ourselves to a single job title or career trajectory. But in today's dynamic landscape, we can leverage our multifaceted skills and interests to thrive in various domains. Your career can be a rich tapestry of pursuits that fulfill you in different ways. Side gigs, freelance work, and passion projects don't have to mirror your day-to-day role directly. I've written for blogs, contributed to publications, advised startups, taught workshops, and actively participated in my professional association. These diverse experiences have expanded my horizons and allowed me to grow in ways that a traditional career may not have. For example, writing for industry blogs has honed my communication skills and allowed me to share my expertise. Advising early-stage companies has challenged me to think strategically and provide creative solutions. Teaching workshops have enabled me to share my knowledge while continuously learning from others. Each of these endeavors taps into a different aspect of my identity as an architect. They allow me to explore complementary interests, build new skills, and create a more dynamic, meaningful career. Let's redefine what a fulfilling career looks like. 🌱 What complementary skills, interests, or projects are you eager to explore beyond your primary job? Embracing a portfolio approach can unlock new dimensions of growth and meaning. By diversifying your pursuits, you can unlock new avenues for impact, innovation, and personal fulfillment. A portfolio career empowers you to be more than just one role—it enables you to be the multidimensional, adaptable professional that today's world demands. _____________________ Hi, 👋🏻 I'm Evelyn Lee, FAIA | NOMA I've been on the client side for over a decade and have spent the last five years in tech, helping create exceptional employee experiences while growing the business. Now, I help architects: ⇒ Think Differently ⇒ Redefine Processes ⇒ Create Opportunities

Imagine waking up to find the #career path you spent years building suddenly… gone. Not because of your choices. Not because of your performance. But because of external forces entirely outside your control. It happens more than we like to admit. And when it does, the people who adapt the fastest are the ones who thrive. The one skill that determines whether you move forward or get stuck? 🚀 Adaptability. 🚀 It’s not just about bouncing back. It’s about reframing, repositioning, and rebuilding—before the dust even settles. I learned this the hard way when #Brexit wiped out my career trajectory in the #EuropeanUnion. Overnight, the path I was on disappeared. The conversations, the next steps, the plans—they all meant nothing. I had two choices: 🛑 Stay in the past, mourning what was lost. ✅ Or adapt—reassess, reframe, and rebuild. That’s what adaptability really is. Not reacting. Not waiting. But taking control of the one thing that’s still yours—your mindset and your next move. If you’re facing uncertainty right now, here’s what I learned: 1️⃣ Accept that the old path is gone—but you are not. Your skills, experience, and impact still hold value. 2️⃣ Reframe the story—instead of “I lost my job,” it’s “I’m pivoting my expertise to where it’s needed next.” 3️⃣ Reconnect with your network—opportunities don’t just come from job boards; they come from conversations. 4️⃣ Start before you feel ready—because waiting for clarity keeps you stuck. The future isn’t about who has the perfect plan. It’s about who can adapt when the plan gets thrown out.

About 10 days ago, I posted a take [on another platform] about why career paths are dead (truth is, I've been saying this for the last decade). The message clearly hit a nerve: over half a million views and 26k shares later, most people seem to strongly agree. But here is what we (HR) need to reconcile - Across every company, industry, and region I’ve worked in, one thing has always landed in the top 3 gaps in employee surveys: the desire for career paths. And yet I’ve always cautioned against them. Career paths, as they’re often designed, only create false expectations. If you dig for the insight, what most people want isn’t a prescribed ladder; they want transparency. They want to know: What are the rules of the game here? How do I stay relevant? What will be rewarded? But too often, HR’s response is to string together a linear map of roles and call it a framework. If they're "innovative", they might even cross a path or two into an adjacent function. But it never works. It’s an illusion of structure that rarely matches how careers actually unfold, especially now. The truth is: in a world where new roles and skillsets are emerging faster than we can document them, performative career path efforts are a disservice to both the business and our people. Instead of investing energy in "paths," we need to build dynamic support systems that give people: - Real-time insight into how they’re performing - Visibility into opportunities as they arise - Resources to grow based on strengths, not titles - Adaptive roles and teams that tap into their full, evolving skills Let’s stop checking boxes and start designing systems that actually reflect how people learn and thrive in a nonlinear world. --- For more thoughts, check out my related article on entry-level roles (link in comments). #futureofwork