Are we trading growth for comfort at work?
By Sandra Oliver, Impact Founder
I’ve been thinking more about why people approach work differently today. Economic uncertainty, mental health awareness, remote work, and social media have all redefined how people show up in the workplace.
Could some of these shifts actually make building our careers harder? Several workplace patterns suggest they might.
1. Confidence often develops through challenge
Psychologists have long shown that confidence doesn’t come from comfort. It comes from what they call “mastery experiences”, or attempting difficult things, struggling, and eventually succeeding. We traditionally experience many of these moments earlier in our careers, but they can occur well into our more senior roles:
- Taking on responsibilities slightly above our experience, or out of our comfort zone.
- Learning through mistakes, and being willing to be vulnerable enough to try new things.
- Receiving coaching from experienced colleagues or people we admire.
If professionals protect themselves from stretch experiences like these, or if organizations hesitate to give them, those confidence-building experiences can become rarer, and our confidence grows more slowly as a result.
As well, because these experiences are challenging in the moment, they increase our engagement and sense of fulfillment in our work. When we don’t get them, we can feel less passionate and excited about what we do.
2. Informal mentorship is disappearing
A surprising amount of career development historically happened outside formal programs. Through hallway conversations, impromptu feedback, being invited into meetings, and observing how senior leaders make decisions.
Hybrid and remote work reduced these moments dramatically. Research on workplace networks shows that when people stop interacting casually, thousands of “weak ties” disappear across organizations. Ties that drive mentoring, opportunity, and confidence. And without them, younger professionals especially may feel more uncertain about how to navigate their careers.
3. Transactional work relationships can reduce belonging
Humans are wired for social belonging and for decades, work was one of the main places adults built friendships and identity. When work becomes purely transactional – “I do this, you pay me for it” – it can weaken our sense of shared mission, team identity, and community. And that loss of belonging is closely linked to loneliness and diminished well-being.
4. Constant social comparison erodes confidence
For the last few years, professionals have been building careers while constantly exposed to everyone else’s success online. Every day we see promotions, salary increases, startup exits, and “dream careers” on our social media feeds.
Psychologists call this “upward social comparison”, and research consistently shows it lowers confidence and increases anxiety, career uncertainty, and self-doubt – even when someone is doing well.
The next generation of careers could be stronger than ever
None of this means we’re approaching work the wrong way. In many ways we’re correcting unhealthy norms around burnout and boundaries.
But it does raise an important leadership challenge.
How do we help professionals build confidence, resilience, mentorship relationships, and real community throughout their careers – while still respecting healthier boundaries?
If we don’t get this balance right, we may unintentionally create workplaces that feel safer – yet leave professionals feeling more isolated, less engaged, and less confident.
If we do, the next generation of careers could be stronger than ever.
How we help
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