This Is Not The Career I Ordered™ Blog
Savvy Professional Career Wisdom by Caroline Dowd-Higgins
This is Not the Career I Ordered is read by thousands of careerists around the globe. With savvy tools, inspiration, and resources, this timeless book empowers you to enjoy your career, and love your life!
Burnout Doesn’t Always Look Like Collapse, Sometimes It Looks Like Over-Functioning
Burnout does not always look like falling apart. Sometimes it looks like being the person everyone relies on. You keep delivering. You answer the messages. You absorb the “urgent” requests, stay late, and somehow keep the wheels turning. From the outside, you look capable and committed. Inside, your energy, patience, and sense of purpose are […]
Don’t Just Know Your Strengths: Use Them to Keep Growing
Back-to-school season is a timely reminder; learning is not just for students. In a rapidly changing career landscape, lifelong learning is a leadership advantage. Your role, industry, and technology may change dramatically over the next five years. Your natural patterns of talent, however, often remain remarkably consistent. The question is not simply, What are my […]
What Is Your Body Asking For? The Leadership Wisdom of Midlife
Your body is not an obstacle to your leadership. It is a source of intelligence. For years, high-achieving women often override hunger, fatigue, pain, stress, and the need for recovery in the name of performance. You keep going because people depend on you, deadlines matter, and ambition feels urgent. But what happens when pushing through […]
Beyond Endurance: Why Energy Intelligence Is the Real Leadership Superpower
Burnout is not a leadership strategy. Exhaustion is not proof of commitment. And constant availability is not the same as effectiveness. In her recent Chief article, “The Future of Leadership Depends Less on Resilience and More on Energy Intelligence,” Erin Coupe makes a sharp case for a new leadership model: stop glorifying endurance and start […]
After the Workplace Breaks You: What Recovery Actually Looks Like
With burnout and workplace trauma on the rise, it is crucial to confront what happens when an organization fails its people. When a toxic work environment shatters your professional confidence, the fallout goes far beyond standard exhaustion. In a powerful and deeply resonant LinkedIn reflection, Elise Dyer, Deputy Director and Clinical Lecturer & CBT Therapist […]
Raising Your Ceiling Starts with Leveling Your Floor: The Reality of Sustainable Leadership
Sustainable leadership is not a luxury; it is a performance requirement for the modern executive. In an era of constant transformation and market volatility, many leaders are operating on fumes, attempting to build massive strategic “ceilings” on foundations of crumbling sand. With burnout rates reaching critical levels, especially among women in senior leadership, it’s time […]
AI Isn’t a Shortcut to Engagement: What the 2026 Gallup Data Really Means for Leaders
With employee engagement stalled at a stagnant 31%, your organization cannot afford to treat AI as a magic wand for productivity. Despite the rapid acceleration of AI adoption in the first half of 2026, the topline engagement numbers haven’t budged. In fact, 18% of U.S. employees are actively disengaged, a detachment that is costing the […]
Beyond Relief: Why Your Strengths Need a New Strategy for Burnout Recovery
With burnout at an all-time high, your standard survival tactics are no longer enough. Gallup research is clear: People who regularly use their strengths at work are significantly less likely to burn out. But what do you do when your team is already hitting the wall? Advise them to lean into their strengths even harder? […]
A Toxic Workplace is Not an HR Problem – It’s a Leadership Problem That Can be Fixed
One of the reader-favorite chapters in my book, Your Career Advantage is titled, This Is Not The Boss I Ordered. As a certified executive coach, not a day goes by that I don’t hear from clients, colleagues, and friends about how debilitating a toxic leader makes their career and work lives. Toxic workplace culture is […]
Why the Career Ladder is Dead: Embracing the Gen Z ‘Lily Pad’ Strategy
The traditional career ladder is officially a relic of the past. For decades, we were told to pick a lane, climb the rungs, and wait for a gold watch at the end. But in 2026, that vertical climb feels less like a path to success and more like a trap. Enter the “Lily Pad” strategy. […]
Summer Fridays Won’t Cut It: The 4-Day Week Is the Real Retention Play
With burnout hitting a record high of 66% among American workers in 2026, the traditional perks of corporate life are facing a reckoning. The old-school approach of offering a few early exits on a Friday afternoon, the Summer Friday, is no longer a meaningful benefit. It’s a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. If you want […]
Don’t be a Career Loser: Take All Your Time Off
With workplace burnout reaching a fever pitch in 2026, taking your earned time off isn’t just a perk, it’s a survival strategy. If you are sitting at your desk right now, scrolling through emails while your accrued PTO balance climbs into the double digits, you aren’t a dedicated hero. You are a career martyr, and […]
Burnout vs. Overwhelm: Why Knowing the Difference Could Save Your Career
With workplace burnout reaching a staggering 82% in 2026, the stakes for your career and well-being have never been higher. We are living in a permanent state of high alert, fueled by an escalating attention crisis where the average professional switches tasks every 47 seconds. If you feel like you’re drowning, you aren’t alone. But […]
Why the Slow Tech Revolution Will Change the Way You Work and Rest
With workplace burnout hitting a fever pitch in 2026, the traditional approach to “unplugging” is no longer enough. We are living through an attention crisis that requires more than just a weekend away; it requires a fundamental shift in how we interact with the tools of our trade. Recent data reveals the urgency of this […]
