I had to laugh at how familiar this all sounded. I've observed again and again how there was an inherent conflict of interest in a hierarchy of ambitious people

I had to laugh at how familiar this all sounded. I've observed again and again how there was an inherent conflict of interest in a hierarchy of ambitious people trying to climb the ever-narrowing tree between serving the company and serving those few who are responsible for your own promotion. The bigger the company gets, the bigger the conflict, because as a company grows, your contribution is known to a shrinking subset of the company and your distance from the people at the top (whose compensation is most benefited by overall company success) increases to the point that you become invisible to them. Your promotion will almost always be determined by your immediate subtree of superiors. If you want your contribution to the company overall to count for more, you have to work for a company where your personal subtree and the company itself differ less, e.g., a smaller company.