I spent nearly a decade and a half as a corporate soldier. I was good at it, and I got many big promotions. But I was never the perfect corporate soldier. My aptitudes and principles did not align with them, so I was never truly happy.
The salary, expense account, company cars, and prestige were very nice. I regret to say that’s probably why I stayed for so long. But it wasn’t meaningful enough for me to make corporate soldiering my life’s work.
Not all corporations are evil. Some new companies have a very different mentality than the old-school corporate mentality I experienced as an employee. Even so, I’ve noticed that as these relatively new companies become corporate giants, they slip away from their original humanistic values. In addition, not all highly successful corporate soldiers fit all the characteristics I’ll describe. A few exceptional individuals manage to slip through nearly unscathed.
The characteristics of the perfect corporate soldier I’ll present next might help you decide if you…
- Should avoid corporate careers.
- Fit the corporate model for excelling.
- Should quit the corporate world for good.
Here are the characteristics of the perfect corporate soldier.
- Conformer
- Chameleon
- Follower
- Group-thinker
- Blind-devotee
- Workhorse
- Traditionalist
- Average
- Employee
- Risk-averse
- Unimaginative
- Politician
- Schmoozer
- Actor
- Pretender
- Smiler
- Ass-kisser
Choose who you entrust your career with carefully. You can also trust yourself completely by becoming a solopreneur (articles available), as I’ve done.