Not too long ago I was employed as the head of the creative departments at two fairly sizable agencies. My days then were basically filled with a 30-minute meeting every 30 minutes: HR stuff, financial numbers, finding talent, and new business.
I was good at this kind of thing. My days went by in a busy blur. And I like to think I improved the places at which I worked and helped the careers of some of the people who worked for me.
Today, once again, I am a copywriter. Completely hands on. With no task too small or unimportant. On the shoot I've been on for the last week, it's my spots that are being produced. They're not sullied by supervision or too sullied by the vicissitudes of client mishigoss.
I think this might be the key to longevity. Work big. Work small. Work.