I am very creative and very conceptual. I have degrees and academic teaching experience to back this. But in the corporate world, if I try and speak my mind, I'm told I'm rocking the boat or that I "backtalk" too much. I have no use for hierarchy when I know collaboration will get the job done more effectively!

But I keep getting stuck in jobs executing other people's flawed strategies! Do I need to go back to academia?

She suggested I do a "perception audit" and see what potential clients think about me. I haven't yet, but I think it's good advice to figure out if I really am perceived as the "senior strategist" I believe myself to be.

Being a strategist is one thing, but do others see you that way too? Have you proven yourself?

This reminds me of a story about bricklayers. When asked what they were doing, one said he was laying bricks; another said he was building a cathedral. In some way, it is important that the 'clerks' and the 'desk jockeys' - although to assume automatically that someone who is not a CEO is either of these two and nothing else is kind of odd in itself - also buy into the vision of the organisation. Good on those who can look beyond their tasks to see the reason they are doing those tasks! If only more had such purposefulness in their apparently aimless lives..

On another note, I agree with Sarah. Narrowly defined labels can but do not always become self-fulfilling prophecies; but they can damage a lot of possibilities in their wake.

strategies create benefit
tactics create results