Comment Re:Age (Score 1) 515
I've got two comments for you. The first is being able to recognize diversity of ability. While a lot of people focus on raw talent, there's a lot more to getting ahead in a job. Some people bring strong technical skills and some people bring soft skills and some people bring a balance. (And some people bring nothing and fill up a chair - but that's another story). A good manager will see that people are in the role for which they are suited, and if that means you're the 'go to' guy for hard to solve issues - great. Try looking at your co-workers and see if you can learn from them some of the other skills that they bring to the table. Be broad minded about your co-workers.
Now, for the other story. As a rule of thumb, only about 10% of the employees in a given environment actually pull the organization forward. Most people are the very necessary 'average' cogs in the machine. Some people are truly dead weight and should be doing something else as a job. Because you've got great attitude and you have drive, there's a good chance you're going to find yourself in that 10%. Keep doing what you're doing. Try working with your boss to find out what you're doing well and where you can improve. I don't know you personally, so I'm just speculating, but it could be that you aren't sensitive to some cultural issues and might need to work on how you deliver the information. You might also let the average cogs just be average. Not everyone is an A player and that's something you'll have to deal with. If you're truly surrounded by a 'confederacy of dunces,' and your boss doesn't have the interest, this may not be the place for you. That doesn't mean quit tomorrow, but it does mean figure out what would be a good fit for you and start lining yourself up for that role.
High performance people can get demoralized in environments where they are poorly managed. The same skills that can make someone a high performer are also the same skills that allow people to accurately evaluate their competency. A good manager will make sure those people are recognized and will spend time to groom those people for more responsibility. It's one thing to work in an environment where you are pulling much more than your weight but treated the same as the person who sits in a cube reading Yahoo (of all things), playing solitaire, and moaning all day about having to stay an extra 5 minutes past 4:30. And it's a totally different experience when your manager understands your potential and is sending you to training, giving your more responsibility, bringing you in to meetings with more senior leadership because you can contribute, or just throwing cash at you to try to keep you happy. In the former example, I would say that's a dead end. The latter example indicates you need to finish 'cooking' for a while so you can move up to the next level.