To feel increasingly lonely the higher I climb in work?

[Fireal]

I’m in education and have worked part time since my children were small (about 6 years) but am getting to the point where I’m thinking about returning full time fairly soon. I absolutely love my job and have worked hard to become specialised in a specific area over the last few years. My boss has really helped here and I’ve found myself in a position where I’m doing well and have a clear path. However, the better I do at work, the lonelier I feel. We are a fairly tight-knit work place, but I never really feel particularly close to anyone (although I do have friends there) - and this is partly my fault as I can’t really enter into gossip / drama etc (and nor would I want to) as it’ll damage my profile.

AIBU to ask is this a normal part of climbing the ladder? Or am I doing something wrong that sets me apart? I’m fairly reserved in work but I do know my area inside out and work hard to stay on the right side of senior leadership. Is it possible to do this and not get people’s backs up? Problem is, part of my job is quality control within my area and often that involves working closely with people who may not have the quality aspect quite right!

I’d love some advice as I’m beginning to doubt myself!

All this talk of climbing sounds annoying - if you're not SLT you are not in a particularly elevated position and it's likely your attitude to having 'climbed' that puts people off. I doubt other people perceive you as having 'climbed' at all as there is a clear distinction between SLT and not. They probably are just wondering why you don't join in fully as they can't see a reason for you not to.

There is a clear distinction between senior leadership and not - you’re right. If you read the previous posts, you’ll see this is part of the problem - having no real camp. Middle management is a funny place to be in an organisation because you’re not senior but you are managing, which makes people wary. I also think there’s a difference in the way people act in work depending on what level they’re at, and this can be isolating (particularly if you’re unable to have a moan etc with most of your colleagues). And yes, ambition can be obvious to some people. If you have the holy grail solution to this I’m interested to hear it? How does one continue to be ‘one of them’ whilst still pushing ahead?

It’s worth noting though, that in a workplace with lots of staff, you won’t be ‘managing’ them all, so won’t encounter this problem with everyone.

Corporate world fulfills nobody except the CEO. And even then.........

OP works in a school setting @Skyscrapers921 - not sure these have CEOs unless of an ultimate trust.