big fish in a small pond

By making herself indispensable at her workplace Lily was promoted to a low-level managerial position – making her a big fish in a very small pond – but she's now beginning to feel like she's dug her own grave.

"I would dearly love to move up in the company," says Lily, "but I'm smart enough to realize that my chances of staying employed are better if I stay where I am."

"To claim that I am indispensable to the company is not boasting," says Lily, "but only at the level I am at now."

"Yes," says Lily, "I feel very important in my job. But in the big picture I am just a small fish."

"Sometimes I think about applying for a job higher up the pecking order but the thought of becoming just another executive woman, surrounded by really tough ball-breaking women, just does not appeal."

"For one thing I would miss the guys," says Lily, "and for another I would cease to be indispensable."

"My job would be in jeopardy just like the jobs of all the executive women in this place."

"If I could just convince the boss that I deserve a lot more money for the great job I am doing I would be happier," says Lily.

"Perhaps I could engineer a mock strike, get the guys to walk off the job and then show the boss my superb negotiating skills by talking them into coming back to work?"

"He would be so grateful and impressed that he would surely think I am worth twice my salt!"

"Trouble is," laughs Lily, "he is more likely to pour salt over me than add another zero to my paycheck."

"All things considered, I suppose I should be thankful for the one thing that keeps me in this job and makes me indispensable to the company - the guys," says Lily. "Without them I wouldn't be such a big fish."

Read more by Lily on this issue:


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