This is timely, only last night I was wondering out loud if I would ever be satisfied working for someone else (my husband said yes, if I could find someone inspirational, smart, kind, courageous, capable, highly self aware and highly ethical - we agreed that such people no doubt exist but are likely few and far between ... so possibly not!)
I've had a relatively successful career, was a senior executive in the public service by the time I was in my late 20s, have consulted at a senior level for some years etc. I've worked with lots of smart people. But ... It is my intellectual and emotional OEs that get me into trouble. Even among my smart colleagues I rarely find people who are truly curious about the world, who are driven to make difficult choices and have uncomfortable conversations to orchestrate the best possible outcomes. I'm not talking about being an a@&hole, just the opposite, but being morally courageous, kind, speaking up in the face of obviously flawed consensus and so on.
I recently moved sectors and have gone from consulting to 9-5, to work with NGOs where at least my values are often shared. But I find the same thing - some people just as caught up in their egos (resulting a refusal to budge even in the face of sound evidence, refusing to hear those around them and working for them, loosing out on the chance to be better, avoid problems etc) - but this time with the sanction of doing good deeds. People who are brilliant advocates but who can't see that they also need to be good strategists, good leaders and managers if they want to create the best possible outcomes and stretch their limited resources as far as they can. People stuck ideologically rather than being willing to question, to investigate, to call out their own side's hypocrisy.
So yeah ... People being messily, imperfectly human has always been a stumbling block for me in my enjoyment of work!
