What's your next move?
- Nora Stolz
- 23 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Stay? Go? Step up? Change direction? Start something?
“Your reputation has compound interest. Don’t cash it in too quickly.”— Nora Stolz
There comes a point in most careers when the next move stops being obvious.
Maybe the job feels too small. Maybe you’ve stopped learning. Maybe someone else’s promotion has made you wonder whether you should be moving too.
The instinct is often:
I need a new job.
Maybe.
But “new” and “better” are not the same thing.
Before you leave, check what's left
Ask yourself:
Have I actually learnt everything I wanted to learn here?
Could you take on a bigger remit?
Move into another function?
Get closer to clients?
Take P&L responsibility?
Lead a team?
Work internationally?
Sometimes the clever move is not out.
It is sideways, diagonally or up.
The career ladder is a fairly poor metaphor. Careers are closer to a chessboard.
What matters is not whether every move looks like a promotion.
It is whether the move improves your position.
Don't underestimate what you've already built
Inside an organisation, you carry something valuable with you:
Your reputation.
Your relationships.
Your understanding of how decisions actually get made.
The people who trust you.
The people who will answer your call.
The person in Finance who somehow knows how everything works.
That has value.
And it can give you leverage to negotiate a bigger role, a better title, more money or an opportunity you might struggle to land externally today.
“Don’t confuse ‘next’ with ‘somewhere else’. A new employer gives you a clean slate. It also wipes the slate clean.”— Nora Stolz
To be clear: you don’t start from zero professionally when you change employer.
Your experience and external reputation come with you.
But organisationally, quite a lot resets.
You need to understand the culture.
Work out who has influence.
Build allies.
Find trusted partners.
Establish credibility.
Learn which meeting is the real meeting before the meeting.
All while doing the job you were hired to do.
People often underestimate that cost.
Career Facts
Research on organisational socialisation shows that successful adjustment to a new employer involves building role clarity, confidence and social acceptance — all of which are associated with stronger performance, satisfaction and commitment.
In other words:
Being good at the job and being effective inside the organisation are not quite the same thing.
The second takes time.
So, should you stay?
Not automatically.
Sometimes you really are done.
You’ve learnt what you came to learn.
There is nowhere interesting left to move internally.
The next role above you looks deeply unappealing.
Or another opportunity offers something your current organisation simply cannot.
Then leaving can be exactly the right move.
But make it a strategic decision, not a reflex.
Before you go, ask three questions:
What am I still learning here?
What internal move could stretch me?
What will I have to rebuild if I leave?
Then compare that with what the external opportunity genuinely gives you.
Not just the salary.
Not just the title.
The whole move.
Try this
Before applying for another job, have one internal conversation.
Ask yourself:
“What would a bigger or more interesting version of my career here look like over the next 12–18 months?”
You may still decide to leave.
But at least you will know what you are leaving behind.
One thing to remember
Leaving isn’t always the ambitious move.
Sometimes ambition means recognising the value you’ve already built — and using it to create a bigger opportunity exactly where you are.
Further reading
'The First 90 Days' — Michael D. Watkins
A useful reminder of just how much has to be rebuilt when you enter a new organisation: credibility, relationships, context and influence.
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Research: Bauer, T. N. et al. (2007), Newcomer Adjustment During Organizational Socialization: A Meta-Analytic Review of Antecedents, Outcomes, and Methods, Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(3), 707–721.
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