The hidden reason your job feels like an uphill battle.
My friend Elizabeth is an award-winning interior designer.
Her bold, high-end retail and restaurant spaces landed her a high-paying role at a global architecture firm. The leaders wanted to reposition the firm as the most innovative healthcare design firm in the world. For Elizabeth, it was a dream job.
The firm promised her freedom to shake things up and push the boundaries in healthcare. At first, everything clicked—she spoke at industry conferences, pitched big ideas, and was treated as a visionary.
But a year into the job, something felt off. She was flying around the country, selling the firm’s vision, yet never leading the actual design work. Every push for real change hit a wall.
She didn’t sign up to be just an influencer. She came to innovate, not just talk about it. Instead, she felt like an eagle among ducks: hired to challenge the status quo but surrounded by people unwilling to evolve or take risks. Soon she was feeling disengaged and cynical.
So what went wrong?
Oooh…Cliff hanger!
Before I answer this intriguing question, make sure you and your friends sign up to receive one actionable strategy to reinvent and futureproof your career every Saturday.
Ok, back to the question: What went wrong?
Most people would blame lousy leadership or a weak culture. But IMO, that’s a surface-level interpretation of the problem.
Elizabeth’s real issue was different:
👉 She was stuck in the wrong business cycle.
Some career moves feel effortless. Others feel like a fight. The difference? Whether or not your strengths meet the business where it is.
It’s Not You. It’s the Business Cycle.
Every industry, company and division operates in a distinct phase of the business cycle. Each phase has distinctive values, goals, mindsets and rules of engagement.
Think about it…
• Early-stage companies thrive on disruption. If you’re great at scaling well-defined systems but land in a startup, the “move fast, break things” mentality will drive you nuts.
• Mature businesses focus on efficiency and risk reduction. If you’re a disruptor who pushes unconventional ideas, the “corporate antibodies” will swiftly force you to tone it down and play by the rules.
• Struggling companies need to clean house and break things apart. If you’re wired to foster harmony and team collaboration, you’ll quickly become disillusioned by the short-term mindedness and draconian decisions from the top.
Success is not only about talent. It’s also about timing.
And here’s where most people and organizations get it wrong.
In reorgs, companies often shuffle employees into new roles based on past successes without fully understanding the context behind those achievements. For instance, they might say, “Jane just led a complex IT project; let’s move her to the product team since she can handle complexity.”
They assume that if they were successful in one role, they’ll succeed anywhere. But if you drop a visionary into a place that values stability, or a process-driven operator into a company that thrives on speed, they’ll feel stuck, frustrated, and ineffective—even if they’re incredibly skilled.
Find Your Zone of Impact
Your best work happens when your strengths match what the business actually needs.
Most professionals fall into one of these Zones of Impact:
1️⃣ Challengers – Thrive in the new, see trends and connections to opportunities before others, and love challenging the status quo. (Best fit: Early-stage innovation, new market expansion)
2️⃣ Scalers – Love building structure, integrating processes, and driving efficiency in growth phases. (Best fit: Scale-up & expansion)
3️⃣ Fixers – The masters of turn-arounds. They excel at diagnosing root problems and optimizing broken systems, teams, products, businesses, etc. (Best fit: Declining/restructuring companies)
4️⃣ Stewards – They ensure the ship runs smoothly and according to plan. They maintain stability, procure resources, and troubleshoot issues to ensure proper execution. (Best fit: Mature organizations focused on efficiency)
I want you to notice something: These archetypes are less about your hard skills and more about the conditions in which you kick ass.
Take engineers for example. Some engineers dream up new machines (Challenger), others light up about tinkering around to double their performance (Fixer), and for others, figuring out how to connect multiple machines into a system that runs efficiently is as good as it gets (Scaler).
If you’re a Challenger, you’ll suffocate in a role that focuses on continuous improvements. If you’re a Fixer, you’ll get annoyed by all the pie-in-the-sky talk and the lack of clear requirements to tackle. And so on…
Elizabeth’s disconnect wasn’t caused by a lack of talent. She joined a mature business that serves clients who demand evidence-based, cost efficient designs (hospitals).
OMG! Am I in the wrong organization?
This is where most people panic. They assume they need to leave their company.
Not necessarily.
The truth is, every mid-to-large company has business units at different maturity levels.
• A legacy telecom company might have an AI innovation lab that runs like a startup.
• A high-growth tech firm might have maturing product lines that need optimization.
• A struggling Fortune 500 might have acquired a portfolio of businesses that are profitable and scaling up quickly.
Instead of writing off your company, look for the right pocket within it.
And if you’re considering an external move, don’t just research the company—dig into the various business units. A company as a whole might be in a mature phase, but parts of it might be expanding, optimizing, or transforming.
That may be the place to aim for your next step.
TL/DR : Getting clear about where you fit
The Bottom Line
✔ Success isn’t just about ability—it’s about business timing.
✔ Career misalignment isn’t personal failure. It’s a context problem.
✔ Your dream company—or your current company—may have the right place for you, just in a different business unit.
If you’re feeling stuck, ask yourself: Is this a “me” problem or a business cycle problem?
Because success often comes down to “being in the right place at the right time.”