>However, it is unlikely you would be able to say to a VP or GM, "Hey, I want to work on THAT project, not this crap one you stuck me on, because I want more vi

>However, it is unlikely you would be able to say to a VP or GM, "Hey, I want to work on THAT project, not this crap one you stuck me on, because I want more visibility for promotion!" I think this is very dependent on the incentives that are set up for the GM. If they're being judged on how they're developing their org, and number of promotions is looked at, now they may agree with you that the non-crap thing is the best thing to work on. There's also the more implicit side of it, where if you're just generally good at what you do (or more cynically, if you're on the manager's good side for whatever reason), they'll be more inclined to let you work on what you want regardless of the motivations.