An interesting question, as I'm in the middle of a transition right now. I've been on my current career path for 7 years, and in that time I started as a gold shirt and then moved up to a red shirt. I listened to those along the way that encouraged me to jump at promotional opportunities, because I was so smart or so good at it or I have so much potential. "You'll be running this place one day!" was a common mantra around the office. Some changes happened and then they said that they NEEDED me to step up and be a leader. There was no one else that fit the role so perfectly. So I did it, and I'm good at it, but it has made me miserable.
Even though I've tried my hardest to maintain regular hours (and mostly succeeded), the job drains me so much that I am a zombie when I come home at the end of the day. I have no life, because I don't have the energy for it. I earn more money, but there's nothing I even feel like spending it on once I've paid the bills. I'm so tired from interacting with people all day that I have no friends, because the thought of spending time with people outside of work sounds exhausting. My marriage has suffered, because I don't do my fair share of chores and I'm boring. Worst of all, I find no joy in the work that I do, no meaning. Exhausting myself every day for a higher purpose might be worth it, but this is not.
The other day I heard someone say "just because you're good at the job, doesn't mean the job is good for you." So fucking true.
So, I took the chance and got another job in an entirely different line of work, doing something I know I'll love, and I start in two weeks. It's what I've always had a passion for, got two Master's degrees in, and find very meaningful work. It pays nearly half as much as my current job, and I'll have a worse commute. But I am SO excited. My current boss and another coworker discouraged this and are upset that I'm leaving. They've actually said "how can you do this to us?" It's basically unheard of for people to leave my current employer, as it's a very safe and stable job. People gasp when I tell them (which I have to say, I delight in). But then they're happy for me when they see the genuine smile on my face, which is probably something they haven't seen in years. I could stay at this place and be "okay," but I want more than that.
So it's kind of funny, I'm leaving a "command post" not because I lack ambition, but because I have the ambition to go for what I really want, even though that means a lower rank. I've learned that success has a different definition for everyone. From the outside my current life probably looks like success, but for me it felt like failure. When I got the call offering me the new job, my thought was, "I made it. I did it."
Maybe some day I'll be ready to take on a leadership role again, but not anytime soon!