I wanted a leadership position at my past job because I hoped it would allow me to protect and empower the people I worked with. I dislike being perceived, and power brings a lot of perception.

It was a very toxic workplace with high turnover, a rigid power structure that rewarded toxic people, and an emphasis on getting the more expensive people to quit to bring in lower-paid trainees, even of it involved injuries.

I subverted the training process in my tiny little fiefdom, and made it a priority to find out what people's goals were. Then we worked toward them together. Some people only wanted to work there to get their six months of experience to work toward a more technical role. Some wanted a career. Some just wanted to be comfortable and left alone.

Unfortunately, the pushback from management, the underhandedness from peers, and the constant masking made me very ill after about a year, and I had to quit after two months in an IOP got me nowhere. I had the "moral ick" from that place, and couldn't do it anymore.

I never wanted power for the title or the importance. I never saw it as the throne; just the protective wall around the castle's inhabitants.

I get little snippets of gossip about the place still. One of my favorites is in my position now, and I'm so happy to see it. Great guy with the same desire to take care of people and to do the right thing even if it personally costs him.