What Neo said is very true and I have had that issue in several jobs. But there is always hope for us.

When I joined my current company 8 years ago, 'the team' did not logically exist. There were a few AIX boxes to take care of that nobody else wanted to bother with, in a company with a huge footprint in HP and Solaris and strict segregation of duties - so the role of an AIX SA had been created - and I was lucky enough to take it.

Since I was doing the alien work, nobody even wanted to bother trying to tell me what to do or even worse, manage me, so I had pretty much free hands in my duties and there was nobody to really compare me to
All I wanted was to deliver the best possible service to my clients - and I did not have to follow the standards, I actually made them

Over the years, the AIX footprint grew from 15 to several thousand systems, so the team grew, was splitted, grew again and was splitted again.
There were times where due to bad management we lost all teammembers except me, and there were times where everyone tried to join our team. I changed internally twice, countries and even the continent until I found the management I could and wanted to work for without repercussions for doing my job the way I think it should be done.

I cannot say that I am doing my job these days without struggles - I am fighting a lot with other teams and managers for doing 'the right thing' for the clients - but for me it is all worth it. I largely ignore politics and culture - I try to get them with common sense and reason - and many times I bend the rules to get things done despite all the red tape.

I try to educate rather than to argue. I convince with facts and largely ignore sentiments. I try to lead by example. I assist peer teams in solving issues. And after all these years I am naturally the person to go to for advice, or if things need to get done really fast. But most of all - and I think that is what makes the difference - I care about my systems and clients.

Most of the time, I get a lot of positive feedback from both peers and clients and occasionally even from management - and sometimes I am beaten up. I guess that is just how corporate life is. But I know from this experience, even in a big company, it is well possible to make a difference if you are determined enough and really want to drive a positive change.

Regards
zxmaus