I had mentors (at various times) who were the VP of Engineering, the GM of a $300 million product line, and the CFO of a $6 billion company. I was able to share concerns and still get promoted, get raises, get extra equity, and so on.
Just because your experiences have been different doesn't make your experiences universal.
True, but I think he's probably more right than you are. Burn out is still taboo in most places around the world, if you think companies address this problem correctly then you're a victim of the HN bubble.
Anyway, I want to share a related/not-so-related anecdote that happened to a friend of mine that I still haven't shared.
My friend was angry because he worked for years in his company and always got shit raises. When I say "shit raises" I mean the kind of raises that are basically insults to the employee.
He talked to management but nothing changed. So he decided to look elsewhere and ended up quitting. He got convoked by management shortly after and this is what he was told by the guy in front of him: "you can't do that so impulsively [...] you're not a real man [...] if I was your father I would have slapped you in the face 3 times [...]".
My friend is the most diplomatic guy I know, he disarmed the situation and walked out in good terms. Still, when he told me that I told him to go see HR. He told me "no way, it's a familial company (with thousands of employees), they will not care and won't do anything".
> I had mentors [...] who were the VP of Engineering, the GM of a $300 million product line, and the CFO of a $6 billion company.
> Just because your experiences have been different doesn't make your experiences universal.
You probably should also tell us what was your career position at the company at these times. VP/GM/C-level people certainly won't mentor a random Joe?
Sorry but this never works. Once one starts "sharing the concerns" one have couple of months left in the workplace.