Yes, don't give them your soul but often effort is rewarded and a company consists of people who can stick their neck out for you. Unfortunately they also might

Yes, don't give them your soul but often effort is rewarded and a company consists of people who can stick their neck out for you. Unfortunately they also might consists of people who will stab you in the back... When I was working as a software developer I usually got the most fun assignments, not because I worked myself to death, but because I was at least pretty good for the type of job I had and took initiative. Now I'm in a job role where I'm expected to take initiative and drive things myself and that can of course mean burnout for a lot of people but I still feel that the company culture is pretty supportive of preventing that. I have monthly 1:1 with my boss and the standing agenda is: 1. How do you feel your work/life balance is right now? 2. How I can support you in removing any obstacles preventing progress in your goals/projects? 3. What can you do to take action to make progress about the things we have talked about. This is absolutely not a startup though and not in the US either. I also do realize that if I find a more interesting job I will quite and if my company realize that they don't need my services they will try and fire or move me to another position.