This thread is depressing to me. Before one retires and still need to work, they should have a job that they enjoy. I think that after the retire day, one should still be friends with colleagues and bosses. It's pity that folks appear to hate their jobs and colleagues.
All I see in this thread is a lack of negotiating skills on all sides.
ideally.
for many who are early foolish and late wise, you get on a track and it may become impossible to switch companies or careers.
for the young guns I get a chance to corrupt, I repeat something I heard at a course once from a very high ranking individual who rode in on a motorcycle (kind of a House type)...find your crowd.
while I am on this topic...here are some of my rules, based on my experience of clawing to the middle
- in the early career, work hard to find a corporate culture that you have a natural fit in, otherwise you will spend too much energy trying to be something your not, you will become something you don't want to be, or you will not adapt and be labelled unpromotable. The latter becomes a stressor when you then have to submit to less experienced younger bosses of the dominant culture. Better to find the appropriate level in the heirarchy according to your talent and experience (age), in a culture that you have a natural fit in.
- make an effort to identify the gifted managers (in all respects) in your organization and attach yourself to them, follow them to other organizations. Accept that work is not about the work, that in reality, the boss is 95% of the job.
- although there are exceptions, as a general rule, seek out slightly older managers than yourelf that are as close to your cultural profile as possible to minimize cultural translation issues - so that communication and shared perspective is effortless. Create your own old boy, old girl network.
- when bosses rotate and abusive or untalented bosses are moved over you, do your best to make them think you respect them, and try to move out as quickly as possible to minimize the damage to your psyche. This is especially true for married men working for abusive women bosses. I suspect that many divorces come from men being abused by women bosses at the office, and this resentment/hatred transfers to women generally, and the wife specifically, and men just don't have the primal hardwiring to cope with this. Women should not put up with abusive male bosses, however, my observation is that women are built tougher in this respect.
- many attractive jobs are vacant and available to outsiders because the insiders know the boss is high maintenance and won't transfer over. Most high maintenance bosses can be identified with merely an hour over lunch, and much pain can be avoided with this simple technique.
for enough money.
) 
