I am reminded of a turning point in my own professional life. At some point in my 30s, I realized that if I expected some parental figure to sweep in and sort out my problems and clear my obstacles for me, that expectation might be the very thing that was most in my way. Athletes know the truth of this in relation to their game - but do they in relation to their work off the field?

It takes some time to figure out what you can do to take control over your own working conditions - and a big part of that involves identifying the people around you who are allies and collaborators. It requires figuring out how your workplace operates, how to be a good citizen in relation to your co-workers. It requires knowing the law, and knowing how and when to use it.

It it requires being very suspicious of anyone who presents themselves as a one-person solution: in my humble experience, the more that person talks about what they are going to do to make things better, the more certain it is that this person is going to make things worse.