Are soloists just corporate misfits?

Since trading in being a full time soloist to become an institutional employee, I have been reflecting on why I decided to fly solo in the first place and wondering whether soloists are just corporate misfits.

After all, it is hard being a cog in an engine when you would rather be the driver of the car. Employment makes you a cog, while flying solo lets you drive and plan the next trip.

It’s arguable that flying solo is easier than being an employee in numerous ways.

It is hard being part of an organisation and following rules when you would rather make the rules or simply not have any.

It is hard having to share your workplace with other people and the noise they make, the silly ideas they have, the different pace and priorities they have.

It is hard going to meetings you didn’t organise and are not running.

It is hard being new and trying to fit into an organisation’s culture and ways of doing things.

It is hard to impose your own ideas on an organisation that has survived for ages without them.

It is hard being exposed to unionist and anti-management philosophies when you have been a boss your whole working life.

It is hard fronting up everyday when you don’t feel like it.

It is hard not having your expertise recognised by your employer.

All these are reasons flying solo is easier. Are you taking the easy way out? Are you a corporate misfit?

Karen Morath of M Power consults, trains, speaks and coaches in public relations, personal effectiveness, life balance and all things empowering.

15 comments | Add your own 1 2 3 | Next» View all»

It's really hard seeing the answer but having to wait for the organisation to get there in their own good time. Denise Maffey CA from Kumeu NZ
As an employee it is hard seeing money wasted on unnecessary expenditure, while you have minimal control over your income. Heather Smith from BRISBANE
Yep! Grant Hyman from Sydney
A corporate misfit. I think that is a very good discription of a soloist 50 years of being in the workforce, the best times were either when I was 2IC or a soloist. The soloist wins hands down, but being semi retired beats everything. Working when you feel like it or need the extra cash patrick Burgess from north Ryde NSW
Actually, the hardest was when I ran a department within a global company ... trying to be true to the corporate line when communicating to my "guys" while truly representing them and my department to the higher-ups ... and to some degree getting squashed in the middle. I loved the people-management best - well, helping the guys get the best out of themselves. But, I must admit, being able to concentrate on business and my own performance is a bit of a relief. Marion - www.mbdata.com.au from Sydney
A corporate misfit. You betcha I am. Having worked in the corporate world and seen the goings on of 50+ year old directors with their tantrums, ego, manipulating people and situations for their own agendas, not to mention the insincerity/spin/lies, I KNOW I don't fit in the corporate world at all. And that's okay with me. But I'm so jaded and cynical now that all I want to do is live an authentic life. Eva from Sydney

15 comments | Add your own 1 2 3 | Next» View all»

Add Your comments

Name

Town / city and country

Email (never sold, displayed or given away

We delete comments if we think they are spam, disrespectful or off-topic.

Enter security code,
without spaces, below: