What’s Your Assignment? Navigating Career Crossroads with Purpose
The question comes up constantly: "How do I choose between two career paths when I'm not sure which one is right?"
My answer is always two-fold, and it starts with reframing the question entirely.
Understanding Your Assignment
I firmly believe each of us has an assignment to fulfill in whatever space we occupy. That assignment could be a person in the form of a mentor who needs your perspective, a team member who needs your leadership or a colleague who needs to see someone who looks like them succeed. It could also be a task; building a process that didn't exist, solving a problem no one else saw or creating systems that will outlast your tenure. Most often, it's a combination of the two.
Here's what I know.
You can't identify your assignment if you're not centered on your values, guiding principles, and belief systems. When you're clear on what matters to you (not what looks impressive on LinkedIn, not what your family expects, not what pays the most), your assignment reveals itself.
And here's the part people don't talk about enough; the point in the journey where people often get stuck. Once your assignment is complete, you'll know. You'll feel it. The work that once energized you starts to feel repetitive. The challenges that stretched you now feel manageable, maybe even small. The restlessness you feel? That's a feeling of completion and a clear signal to consider what's next for you.
Completing your assignment and thoughtfully moving to what’s next honors your purpose. Let’s be clear; you're not abandoning anything. You're simply making space for what's next.
Early Career Is for Exploration. Give Yourself Permission To Do Just That.
If you're early in your career, feeling stuck between two paths, here's what I need you to hear. This is absolutely the time for exploration. Try the role that scares you a little. Take the project no one else wants. Say yes to the opportunity that doesn't fit neatly into your “five-year” plan. You likely won't know exactly what you want to do in the first few years post-graduation. I sure didn't. I had an idea and I knew what I enjoyed: problem-solving, building systems, and leading people through complexity.
This, however, evolved as I matured throughout my career.
Every experience is a data point on your respective path to clarity. Every assignment, whether it lasts six months or six years, is shaping you into the leader you're destined to become. The version of success you're chasing at 25 will look different at 35 or 45. Your values will sharpen. Your non-negotiables will become clearer. That's the natural progression of building a meaningful career.
You're supposed to change. That means you're paying attention. Give yourself permission to evolve!
Enjoy the Journey. All of It.
Here's the part that took me years to understand. You must enjoy the journey. All of it. Not just the promotions and title changes, but the hard middle; the role teaching you patience, the manager showing you what kind of leader you don't want to be, and the project that's failing but building your resilience.
There are lessons in every season that will shape you into the best and highest version of yourself, but only if you give yourself the space and grace to learn them. If you're rushing through every assignment trying to get to the next one, you'll miss what that assignment was meant to teach you. Slow down. Pay attention. The growth is happening even when it doesn't feel like it.
So What Do You Do When You're Standing at the Crossroads?
Ask yourself:
Which path aligns with my values right now?
Where do I see an assignment I'm uniquely positioned to fulfill?
Which choice will teach me something I need to learn in this season?
And then trust yourself enough to choose. Trust yourself enough to show up fully. Trust yourself enough to complete the work. And trust yourself enough to know exactly when it's time to move on.
The path isn't about picking the "right" one. Free yourself from that burden. There is no "right" one. There is, however, the one that aligns with who you are and what you value in this moment. That’s your next best move.
Fully embrace the assignment in front of you. Absorb every lesson along the way. And have the courage to move on when it’s time. That's how you build a career with purpose. That's how you become the leader you're meant to be.
You've got this. I believe in you!
About Kinta Gates
Kinta Gates is Vice President of Supply Chain & Operations at Glossier, Inc., where she leads strategy and execution across supply chain, planning, and operational systems. With more than 25 years of experience spanning industrial and systems engineering, procurement, logistics, and operations management, she brings a rare end-to-end perspective on how complex organizations function and how careers evolve within them.
Known for her systems thinking and practical leadership approach, Kinta has built her career by understanding how people, processes, and technology connect across the supply chain. In addition to her work in operations, she is also a certified life coach and a passionate mentor who helps professionals navigate career pivots, recognize patterns in their experience, and make confident decisions about what comes next.
