more senior level. I think teaching is quite well paid these days (have just started my 9th year) but I am amused by the concept that it is free from all the things described in this thread. Come to my school and see the politics in action! Doesn't teaching have any of these issues? The NHS certainly does Survival strategies? Well, remember it's only work and make sure you have a life outside. If you can't change it, try to figure out if it's likely to change within a time frame you can cope with, maybe through restructuring - this happens in the NHS all the time, sometimes for the better in terms of the management environment and sometimes not. If not, plan an escape strategy to something better. Above all remember there is nothing intrinsically wrong with being the quiet brilliant one 'A good manager recognises that everyone has something valuable to give and finds a way to enable them to give it. ' Yes. yes. I also think many managers forget to do the basic stuff; saying positive things; giving bad news face to face; all the simple good manners. They treat their employees as they would not treat even the most distant member of their family, and then wonder why relationships with and between the people they spend all day with are shite. One woman in our team is an absolute workhorse; a colleague and teamworker par excellence (sorry, i believe in teamwork). But she doesn't take