A colleague recently started exploring what she wants in her next job. She asked me for advice. I offered the writings below.
Most jobs offer a balance of two things: power (in position) and autonomy. The two are inversely related; the more power a position has, the less autonomy you will have. In part, this is because your stakeholder network grows ever larger. Take two examples:
The CEO of a major corporation has a tremendous amount of power, but his autonomy is severely limited. His ability to exercise that power is limited by the wide range of stakeholders and institutions in place: he can’t make significant changes to the core business model without support of his board and the (tacit or explicit) support of his consumers. Your statements may be able to change the views of many, but you need to be careful of what you say, lest you permanently alienate a large number of your stakeholders. Over the last decade, we’ve even seen limits on personal life and personal views (just look at Brendan Eich at Mozilla).
If you start a think tank or advisory organization with your own funds, you can essentially write or do whatever you like. You are accountable to yourself and perhaps a funder. You can take whatever vacations you like and work from anywhere. Could you change U.S. education policy? Maybe–but it will take a while to influence others, especially if your view is significantly outside of the mainstream.
Neither position is either innately good or bad. The real question is “what is the right blend of power and autonomy for you in this moment?” And, secondarily, “how can you best achieve your goals?” We all have preferences: the slow, patient work inside the system is easier for some. Others are extremely adept at building coalitions from a position of autonomy. There are countless positions all along this power/autonomy spectrum–the question is what makes sense in this moment.
Over time, the position changes. As you move up in the world, the aggregate of both autonomy and power grows: for your next job, you might end up in a position with more power and the same autonomy. The next job of a CEO and the next job of an entry-level person are likely to be radically different. Regardless, as you acquire more power-in-person (greater personal authority) and greater skill at influencing others, you might opt for autonomy, unless a particularly good opportunity for change from within a system — economic, social, or otherwise — exists. But only you will know where the right balance lies.