It’s not uncommon to feel like your career is on autopilot. Even though you’re good at your job, it may often feel like that spark of challenge or growth is missing.

Step out of the comfort zone. Challenge yourself to grow in your career—vertically or laterally.

Vertical career growth is all about climbing the corporate ladder. It typically involves a title bump to a new position with more responsibility and authority.

On the other hand, lateral or horizontal career growth is more about expanding your skill set by moving sideways within an organization or even to a new company. You might not get an immediate promotion, but you’ll gain valuable experience.

Here’s the exciting part: these paths aren’t mutually exclusive! You can leverage vertical and horizontal career moves to create a well-rounded skill set. A lateral career move provides valuable experience and expertise, enhancing your readiness for vertical growth.

Vertical vs. lateral career growth: Which one should you choose? Let’s understand the what and why of each approach. By exploring their unique advantages, you can choose one that suits your career growth objectives and positions you for future success.

Vertical vs. Lateral Career Growth: Definition and Advantages

Understanding Vertical Career Growth

Vertical career growth is the traditional upward career trajectory within a specific field or industry. You progress through promotions to positions with greater responsibility, authority, and, typically, a pay increase.

Through vertical growth, you can move from entry-level, individual contributor positions to management roles, taking on new responsibilities and overseeing the work of others.

Pros

Clear progression: With vertical career moves, the path ahead is often well-defined. You know what you’re aiming for, making it easier to set goals and track your professional development
Skill specialization: Vertical moves allow you to deepen your expertise in a specific area. You become the go-to person for your niche, leading to increased recognition and opportunities
Leadership development: A vertical career move lets you hone your management skills, build confidence, and become a role model for others
Increased impact: A vertical move lets you shape the direction of your team and influence larger projects
Financial rewards: Promotions typically come with a raise, boosting your financial security

Cons

Pressure and stress: With greater responsibilities come higher expectations and potentially more stress. Balancing work and life becomes crucial to avoid burnout
Limited exposure: Climbing the ladder vertically may limit your exposure to different aspects of your industry. You might become highly specialized but lack broader experience
Competition: The higher you go, the fewer positions there are, making competition fiercer
Risk of stagnation: If there are limited advancement opportunities within your organization or field, you could hit a career plateau, feeling stuck in your current role

Here are some ways to maximize the vertical career path:

Set clear professional goals: Define where you want to go in your career. Whether it’s aiming for a specific role within the same department or mastering certain skills, clarity in your objectives will guide your actions
Seek feedback and mentorship: Seek regular feedback from peers, managers, or mentors to identify areas for improvement and chart your progress
Learn continuously: Stay relevant by investing in continuous learning and skill development. Attend workshops, pursue certifications, or enroll in relevant courses to enhance your expertise. Consider using skills management software to track your progress in acquiring new skills relevant to your vertical growth goals
Manage up effectively: Build strong professional relationships within and outside your organization. This will open doors to new opportunities and insights
Stay flexible: Clearly view your career map and be open to unexpected opportunities. Sometimes, lateral moves can complement vertical growth, providing valuable experience and perspective

Now, let’s look at the pros and cons of a lateral career move and ways to maximize it.

Understanding Lateral (Horizontal) Career Growth

Horizontal career growth focuses on expanding skills and experience by moving across different roles, departments, or industries without vertically climbing the hierarchical corporate ladder.

The key is to gain new experiences and broaden your knowledge base without necessarily aiming for a promotion (although that may happen soon!).

Pros

Diversified skill set: A career progression with horizontal growth lets you gain a broad range of knowledge, making you a more versatile and adaptable professional
Increased creativity: Exposure to different perspectives and challenges can lead to fresh ideas and solutions, sparking creativity and fast-tracking professional development
Network expansion: Meeting new colleagues and building relationships could open doors to future opportunities
Flexibility: Lateral moves offer flexibility to explore new interests or pivot your career without necessarily starting from scratch

Cons

Transition challenges: Adjusting to a new role or industry can be challenging initially, requiring time and effort to adapt and excel
Loss of momentum: Horizontal moves can sometimes delay your climb on the career ladder. It’s more about the long game of building a comprehensive skill set
Uncertain path: The long-term impact on your career might not be immediately clear

Here’s how you can maximize the lateral career path:

Set clear objectives: Define what you hope to achieve through lateral moves. Whether it’s gaining specific skills or exploring new opportunities, clarity in your goals will help you make a better decision
Build networks: Build a strong network within and outside your organization to discover potential lateral opportunities. Attend industry events, connect with professionals in different fields, and stay curious about potential pathways
Seek feedback and mentorship: Engage with mentors or peers who have experience with lateral career moves. Their insights and advice can help you navigate challenges and make informed decisions
Embrace learning opportunities: Approach each lateral move as a chance to learn and grow. Be open to acquiring new skills, tackling challenges, and expanding your horizons. Consider using project management tools to stay organized and on top of your workload as you transition into a new role or industry
Stay patient and persistent: Trust the process; lateral career growth may not always yield immediate results. Stay patient and persistent, and keep moving forward. Each experience adds to your journey and builds your expertise

Whether transitioning laterally or horizontally, a successful career requires a clear purpose and flexibility to embrace new roles.

The Importance of Purpose and Adaptability in Career Growth

Purpose and adaptability are crucial to fuel your career journey. Purpose gives your career direction, while adaptability helps you to navigate the journey. These two factors can make all the difference in the type of career path you choose and how successful you’ll be.

How purpose influences career direction

You know that satisfying feeling when you’re doing something that just clicks? That’s the essence of purpose. It’s that intrinsic drive, that ‘why’ behind what you do.

With a well-defined purpose, you’re inclined to make decisions that align with your values and passions, leading you toward a path that ultimately brings long-term satisfaction.

Having a clear purpose will give you the confidence to make decisions, the motivation to keep pushing forward, and, consequently, a more meaningful and fulfilling career.

The role of adaptability in vertical and lateral career growth

The world of work is dynamic. New technologies emerge, industries evolve, and companies restructure. Adaptability is not just about rolling with the punches; it allows you to thrive in an ever-changing environment.

Vertical growth: As you climb the ladder, you’ll encounter new challenges and responsibilities. Being adaptable allows you to take on these challenges with confidence. Explore training opportunities to continuously learn, grow into new roles, and adjust to different work habits and management styles.

Lateral growth: When exploring different paths, each new role or industry brings its own challenges and opportunities. Adapting quickly and effectively can help you succeed in these diverse environments, helping you master new tools, integrate into a new team, and find creative solutions in unfamiliar territory.

In addition to these factors, your work environment can significantly impact your professional growth. Let’s see how.

Evaluating Your Career Environment

Your organization’s work culture, the nature of your team, and your relationships with your peers, subordinates, and superiors can all significantly shape your ideal career growth path.

Understanding the importance of work environment in career growth

If you spend a significant chunk of your waking hours at work, it’s no surprise that your environment can profoundly affect your career trajectory. Whether surrounded by supportive colleagues, facing constant change, or thriving in a structured setting, these factors all come into play when considering your career options.

Determining the suitability of vertical or horizontal career growth based on your environment

When choosing between horizontal and vertical career growth, your environment can be a guiding light. By understanding its influence and assessing your goals and values, you can decide whether a horizontal career move or vertical career growth is the right path for you.

Vertical growth: If your company offers a clear path for promotions, focuses on talent management, and provides opportunities for leadership development and mentorship, then a vertical climb might be a perfect fit. It’s especially true if you crave increased responsibility and a leadership role.

Lateral growth: If your company encourages cross-departmental collaboration, learning new skills, and a self-paced workstyle, then a horizontal climb can benefit you. By creating a culture of openness to support internal job changes, your company can help you broaden your skill set and explore new areas within the organization.

If your company doesn’t offer these opportunities, then these red flags can help you identify the potential barriers to your career growth:

Limited growth opportunities: Promotions are rare, and there’s no clear path to advancement
Stagnant skills: You feel like you’re constantly doing the same tasks with no chance to learn new things
Toxic culture: Low morale, poor communication, and a lack of support can make it difficult to focus on your career goals

Now, let’s dive into the goal-setting process for vertical and lateral career growth.

Goal Setting for Career Growth

After you’ve set your eyes on the future, the next important step is knowing where to start. Whether you’re aiming to climb the ranks or explore new horizons, setting clear goals will give you your roadmap to success.

Unpacking the goal-setting process for vertical and lateral career growth

Before diving into specifics, some self-reflection is key. Consider what motivates you. Understand whether you crave leadership positions and the responsibility that comes with them or if you are more interested in developing your skill set and tackling fresh challenges.

Vertical growth

Suppose you value leadership and increased responsibility. In that case, your goals might involve mastering specific management skills, taking on projects that demonstrate leadership potential, exceeding your project management goals, or pursuing certifications relevant to higher-level roles.

Consider using an effective goal-tracking app to make your journey seamless.

Lateral growth

Embarking on a horizontal leap involves developing and implementing a unique strategy to expand your skill set and venturing into new territories.

Here, goals might include acquiring new skills in adjacent fields within your industry or expanding your professional network by contacting colleagues in various departments or companies you’re interested in exploring.

You can also learn new software programs, take courses in complementary areas, or seek opportunities to collaborate with different departments.

ClickUp Goals can be a powerful tool to map out and achieve your career growth aspirations.

First, unpack your goals. For vertical growth, set targets around acquiring skills needed for the higher position. Use ClickUp’s ‘Task Targets’ to link tasks such as taking online courses or mentorship programs to your goal.

Similarly, for lateral growth, identify desired skills and set measurable targets. You can use ‘Number Targets’ to track completed certifications or ‘True/False Targets’ to confirm attending relevant workshops.

ClickUp also promotes effective goal-setting through clear organization and progress tracking. Create ‘Folders’ to categorize your development goals, such as ‘Management Skills’ or ‘Data Analysis’.

Additionally, within each folder, set deadlines and milestones using ClickUp’s ‘Targets’ and ‘Progress Roll-up’ features. This allows you to visualize progress across various goals and stay motivated on your path to career advancement.

Deciding Which Career Path Is Right for You

The ideal career path is a unique blend that aligns with your goals, skills, and aspirations.

Here are some key factors to consider:

Your long-term vision: Understanding your long-term career goals is key to choosing the right path. Perhaps you crave leadership roles and the thrill of managing a team. Or maybe you find joy in constantly learning and mastering new skills in different areas
Consider your skills and strengths: Reflecting on your unique strengths determines what you’re naturally good at. Think about how these strengths align with the requirements and demands of different career paths. Also, consider which skills you want to develop and how each path can contribute to your growth. While vertical growth focuses on honing management skills, lateral move can broaden your technical expertise
Work environment: Remember, your company’s culture plays a big role. Find out if your employer supports promotions and leadership development. This openness to internal job changes and cross-departmental collaboration will positively impact your career growth

Here are some recommendations for choosing between vertical and lateral career growth:

Embrace a hybrid approach: The most fulfilling careers often involve a blend of both vertical and lateral moves. Use vertical growth to climb the ladder and gain leadership experience. Then, leverage lateral moves to acquire new skills and keep your skill set fresh and relevant
Focus on continuous learning: Prioritize lifelong learning regardless of your chosen path. Take courses, attend workshops, learn from your peers, and stay up-to-date on industry trends

ClickUp’s Project Management platform can be a powerful tool to manage your career exploration and development. Here’s how:

Planning and prioritization: Set goals for learning new skills or acquiring certifications. ClickUp helps you create tasks, track progress, and stay focused on your objectives
Skill development and learning management: Use ClickUp Docs and lists to organize scattered learning resources such as articles, tutorials, and online courses in one hub. Automate reminders to schedule study sessions and track your progress
Exploring career options: Boost your job search using Docs to compile information and references to interesting opportunities, contacts, and more. Create separate lists for different fields and organizations you’re considering

📮 ClickUp Insight: Only 11% of our survey respondents share their goals with others for accountability. That’s a missed opportunity. Think about it: sharing your vision invites fresh perspectives, helping you unlock clearer goals and spot hidden issues you might have missed. 🎯
ClickUp makes it dead simple to tap into this superpower. Just @mention a mentor for their wisdom, loop in a friend for that accountability boost, or leave detailed notes for your future self.

💫 Real Results: Users say they can handle ~10% more work with ClickUp.

Get Started With ClickUp

ClickUp features to enhance your journey

Artificial intelligence: Use ClickUp Brain to generate automated tasks based on research notes, summarize key points from articles, and organize your information-gathering process

Use ClickUp Brain AI Knowledge ManagerTM to get instant answers and insights from your research notes, articles, and more

Customizable views and dashboards: Create personalized ClickUp Dashboards to visualize your progress toward career goals and learning objectives
Integrations: Connect ClickUp with project management tools you already use and cloud storage platforms to centralize all your resources

Use ClickUp’s Career Path Template to plan and track a vertical or horizontal career move

Finally, check out ClickUp’s Career Path Template! This handy tool helps you visualize your ideal career journey, identify key milestones, and track your progress toward achieving your dream career.

Create custom statuses for tasks, such as ‘Apply for position’ or ‘Attend informational interview’ for a lateral move. You can also use custom fields to categorize different career paths (vertical or lateral) and the essential skills for each. This lets you see the steps involved in achieving your desired move.

ClickUp lets you open different views of the same template. The ‘Start Here’ view outlines your current role and responsibilities. The ‘Whiteboard’ view helps you specifically measure progress toward your desired career move (vertical or lateral). This visual separation helps you brainstorm and plan the specific actions for your chosen path.

Overall, ClickUp’s Career Path Template provides a framework to:

Plan strategically: By outlining the steps involved in your desired move, you can create a roadmap for success
Stay organized: Having a central location to track your progress and goals keeps you focused
Communicate effectively: If your company encourages career development discussions, this template can serve as a talking point with your manager about your aspirations

You can adapt the template to fit your needs, whether planning for a promotion or switching to a different department.

Download this Template

Make ClickUp Your Professional Growth Manager

Both vertical and lateral career moves offer advantages. However, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The best path for you depends on how you envision your journey.

A lateral career move may be the easiest and most effective option to transition into a different niche. If you’re satisfied with your current career path, focusing on vertical opportunities keeps you moving forward.

Whether you choose a vertical, lateral, or hybrid approach, the most important thing is to find a dream job to stay fulfilled and happy in your career. The key is staying true to your objectives, being open to new opportunities, and growing at every step.

While career planning is exciting, it can also feel overwhelming. Having a growth partner such as ClickUp can help you stay organized, seamlessly track your goals, manage your learning, and focus on achieving your ambitions can make all the difference.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is the difference between lateral growth and vertical growth?

Lateral growth involves moving across different roles or industries, while vertical growth focuses on climbing the hierarchical ladder within a specific field or organization.

2. What is the difference between vertical and horizontal career development?

Vertical career development pertains to ascending hierarchically within a field, while horizontal development involves diversifying skills and experiences across different roles or industries.