Having a good manager is a pure luck. That's why I think that many other things depend on luck as well, for example career advancement. Some work very hard and never manage to advance in their careers, while others climb the corporate ladder very easily. I'm interested to hear from those who have made significant career progress here, specifically how they succeeded in doing so.
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If you're a HiPot, you have a career. Everyone else just has a job.
Most of managers that really cared about career development left on their own terms years ago. You are on your own and its a game of eat your own
OP: Having a good manager is a pure luck.
At Chevron, so true. Way too many Chevron managers are the result of inbred training from the prior generation of poor managers. Chevron's practice of promoting returning expats into management positions (because they're no longer qualified as petrotechs) led to CTC becoming an after-thought rather than technical leader. Chevron's stout refusal to hire managers from the outside perpetuates bad management practices. Throw in the diversity quotas of unqualified window dressing, and you make the situation even worse.
All you need to do is focus on what levers will move your group forward and make sure you are the one making the largest contribution by far. In addition, throw in some side projects which have wider impact. Always think creatively and how to improve the organization, the results, etc. It can be a great deal of fun. I was promoted rapidly for 20 years just by working hard and innovating in every job. I started to level out then (four years without a promotion! The horror!), but it didn't matter because I began the transition to retiring (which took several years).
Donut smiles…..all day long!
A successful career in the oil industry is measured by only two metrics: how many barrels of oil you've found or produced, and project performance (met/beat deadlines, coming in under budget). If you're not accomplishing either of those, you're just creating illusions of success that carry no weight outside Chevron. However, at Chevron, many who have been successful at these metrics, but weren't in the high-pot teacher's pet pool, have been chased off to be successful at other companies.
Success has many definitions. It is your path alone.