For most of my career I have felt undervalued in one way or another, the root cause for this not being terribly important.
A genuine lack of appreciation for my abilities by my superiors, a culture that doesn’t allow these abilities to shine, mismanagement of my undoubted qualities or just good old fashioned self-delusion. Any, or possibly all of these at some points over my varied career, may well apply.
In fact it could be so simple as mistakenly having an expectation for some outward acknowledgement of my work, rather than automatically assuming everything’s going well apart from when I’m being blamed for something. However, no matter why, the point is that there has always been this small nagging irritation. Please trust me when I say that , rather than getting bitter about it, I have used it as a personal spur to try to improve myself. Instead of getting more and more disillusioned, and thereby straying from my usual response of viewing it all with wry humour, I metaphorically roll up my sleeves and try to earn some kind of approval instead (something undertaken with equal knowing humour).
Things have been rather different since joining Sleepy Hollow. My arrival wasn’t exactly met with liveried pageboys blowing a fanfare on bugles whilst hand maidens spread rose petals at my feet – but I do get the distinct impression they feel lucky to have secured my services. As I sit writing this I still feel a sense of mild surprise, quite possibly with overtones of smugness. However its not the unmitigated positive experience I always thought it could be. I have no problem with the accompanying expectation of my performing at the top of my game, I use this once more to maintain motivation. Incidentally, an adaptation of approach that sees my working as hard as ever I did but deriving a greater satisfaction from it. I don’t mind that I now wield an authority that brings more responsibility, for differing reasons I had this earlier in my career and am glad to once more hold this status within a company. Its just that, when I’m wheeled out to customers primed with a strategy to explain why I should deign to work for my current employer (a fine company in itself and with a good reputation), it feels – well – tawdry. It all seems perfectly sincere but its a very strange sensation. Is this what the pneumatic blondes seen on the arms of withered octogenarian millionaires feel like? Have I become the “trophy engineer?”
“I would like my 35 seconds back please”
As I get older I care more about family and self. So as long as I get paid, I play along. Any extra energy goes into family, self and volunteering.
Maintain your standards and keep up to date through good CPD.
Being confident that you are up to date and on top of what you do are the best personal targets in my view; you have limited scope to control how others see you. Think about Robert Burns poem To a louse: “Oh wad some power the gift he gie us tae see ourselves as other see us” Burns night is Monday so get to it!
The biggest problem in life is not technical it is the expectations and understanding of others: but remember that we are also “the others” to other people and impose stresses on them.
…my superiors: Shame on you secret Engineer: they may be your seniors, NEVER your superiors!
….when I’m being blamed for something: You sound the same as I was once described:
“Mike’s a responsible person: whenever something goes wrong, he’s responsible!”
….what the pneumatic blondes seen on the arms of withered octogenarian millionaires feel like?
Presumably you are offering your brain, they seem to be offering something else!
In the UK we used to have an engineering industry which was second to none in the world. In those days it was MANAGED by ENGINEERS. Today it is ENGINEERED by MANAGERS, which is exactly why it has failed miserably.
http://www.papakurawaterpressuregroup.pl.net/articles/boardroom_engineering.pdf
….and so-called HR professionals, ie jumped-up clerks masquerading as such. Add the clerks who crept out of the counting-house into the ‘bored-room’ (accountants) and who have been causing trouble ever since…and the(ir?) future is assured.
I have never made it to the lofty heights of Senior or Principle Engineer. In-fact working in many design offices over the years I have found that the Engineers who had the design authority has been very guarded of his position and not easily give up the control of a design. Any one junior would have to be content with the grunt work of trying to intemperate their ideas and have little or no influence on the finished design. Much akin I think to having a Mechano set as a boy and not letting your brothers play with it. I can easily see why people in this position alike the wordsmith Secret Engineer would like to move on for a sunnier position.
What about Principal Engineer?
Not to mention interpret and Meccano!