Ascender Loses Ground as a Symbol of Career Success, Study Finds

For years, professional growth has been tied to a very specific idea of success: taking on more responsibility, leading teams, and advancing within the organization as an unequivocal sign of progress. However, this way of understanding career progression has begun to change, driven by a reality where stress, hyperconnectivity, and difficulty setting boundaries between work and personal life have led many professionals to rethink what kind of career they want to build.

In fact, although they do not directly address this transformation, data from the Cigna International Health Study do reflect a workplace environment in which personal well-being is gaining more weight. According to the study, 30% of Spaniards say that their work causes them stress, a figure five points above the global average (25%). In addition, 28% acknowledge that their job directly impacts their personal life, compared with 24% internationally.

In this context, concepts such as professional minimalism or conscious unbossing have begun to gain visibility, two trends that reflect new ways of understanding the relationship with work and professional growth. In the first case, work stops being at the center of personal priorities, and the emphasis shifts to stable schedules, disconnecting at the end of the day, and preserving personal time, even if that means foregoing higher salaries, greater responsibilities, or certain growth opportunities. In the second, the questioning is not aimed at work itself, but at certain leadership roles associated with ongoing team management, continuous pressure, or permanent availability, especially when those responsibilities are not accompanied by a proportional improvement in terms of autonomy, recognition, or work-life balance.

It’s Not a Lack of Ambition

“More than a lack of ambition, what these trends reflect is that not everyone understands professional growth in the same way nor seeks the same things at every moment of their career. For a long time, progress has been almost automatically linked to taking on management and leadership roles, but offering more flexible models, where other forms of development tied to specialization, autonomy, or technical know-how also have a place, can make a big difference when it comes to attracting, boosting engagement, and retaining talent, without losing sight of personal well-being. For young people to want to take on leadership positions, the attitudes and values projected by current leaders are key,” says Amira Bueno, HR Director at Cigna Healthcare Spain.

“Under this premise, the experts at Cigna Healthcare highlight five aspects that organizations should consider to tailor their professional development models to the new work priorities:

1. Diversify the avenues for professional growth. Advancing still often means leading people, coordinating teams, or taking on supervisory duties. However, not all profiles want to develop their career through traditional leadership. Incorporating roles tied to technical specialization, strategic advisory, or participation in cross-functional projects allows offering growth options without professional progression relying exclusively on managing people.
2. Support the leap into leadership. One of the factors most influential in rejecting certain promotions is the perception of facing a heavy burden of responsibility alone. Having reference figures within the organization, such as former managers or profiles with prior leadership experience, can ease the transition into these roles. This mentorship enables sharing experience, answering questions, and reducing the sense of pressure or isolation during the early stages of the change.
3. Differentiating leadership from firefighting. Leadership is often associated with the ongoing tracking of tasks, constant validations, or daily resolution of incidents. This accumulation of duties reduces the strategic margin of many leadership roles and increases the perception of overload. Separating operational and leadership duties enables building roles more focused on decision-making, team guidance, or talent development.
4. Give visibility to horizontal growth. Career advancement is still usually presented vertically, tied to hierarchical promotion. However, profiles related to innovation, technical knowledge, cross-functional coordination, or project development also generate strategic impact within teams. Making these trajectories visible helps broaden the perception of professional growth beyond management positions.
5. Reconsider what it means to advance today. Taking on a leadership position continues to involve, in many cases, longer hours, maintaining high availability, or absorbing duties that used to be spread across multiple roles. This perception makes certain promotions lose appeal among professionals who prioritize autonomy and personal balance. Defining responsibilities, boundaries, and decision-making authority more clearly helps build leadership roles that are more sustainable and realistic.