[bruce511]

I've spent my career on the opposite side of the fence. I work for a tiny company, and I report to "mostly" no-one.

I add value, I choose (mostly) what value to add, and my division is profitable.

I recently did some consulting for a large company. It reaffirmed for me that my path was right for me. I haven't made as much money as my corporate brethren, but the endless treadmill of meaningless work, manager meetings, measurement-by-jira and so on would have spit me out early.

I enjoy the creativity of my work, the direct interaction with customers (especially when they like me :) - the intuition to see how things could be better, and the freedom yo execute on it.

My path to joy is not for everyone, others get joy from bringing on a large team - that's OK- each person needs to find their own path.