We Talk About Career Ladders. Mountains Teach Us Something Else.

We talk about careers in terms of ladders, climbs and ascents to the top. But the mountain is teaching us something else.

As we rush toward the top, we often miss another lesson mountains offer: they are unpredictable. Conditions change quickly, and the path rarely unfolds exactly as planned.

We understand that this kind of movement and attempt needs more than skills. It needs bravery, persistence, agility. But what we (rushing towards our way up) drop from this metaphor is the knowing that mountains, expeditions and harsh surroundings invite a great deal of introspection. They change you.

Nejc Zaplotnik in his book “Pot” writes:

“Anyone looking for a goal will remain empty when it is reached, but whoever finds a way will always carry the goal inside.”

We must know our gear and we must understand the conditions. But we must also learn about ourselves as we go.

And while we understand that we must keep pushing to reach the top, to survive the harsh conditions, and that the result must stay the top priority, we seem to forget some of the most important elements of each expedition.

What We Forget During the Climb

Mountains invite patience, calm and presence. They also teach something simple but essential: observe and adjust.

Know when to keep going and know when to stop. Know your capabilities, know your strengths and weaknesses, be ready to change your course — and yourself — and know that without others you most likely would not succeed.

But in harsh conditions we switch on our survival mode. And survival mode fogs our vision, and we forget the essentials — to pause, to assess and to reflect. What mountains and hikes often ask of you is to talk to yourself, to reflect and to be honest.

As career advice, I see a lot of: upskill, do better, work better, be smarter — and I recognize them as add-ons. As if, along the mountain climb, you could stop and buy more gear. But there are no shops or workshops up there. You cannot fix old or buy new. What you have on you is what you use.

Some of it weighs you down, and you might need to drop it intentionally — risking your own safety.

In the harshest of conditions we shed. We drop everything we no longer need. We shed layers — everything that is no longer essential.

And I agree, the career ladder works in a similar way — but the things we need to shed are not external at all.

They are deeply internal.

In our careers and workplaces, these layers are not external. They are deeply internal.

It seems to me that we are just starting to see that. To admit that. Not on a performative level, but on a crucial, deeply human one.

In my work and conversations, I often witness fears, disappointments and grief — and the ways they quietly shape decisions, relationships and expectations. Left unexamined, they can lead to misalignments and burnout.

The mountain doesn’t ask for a climb, it allows a path.