I think it’s better to go by the “act now, apologize later” rule of thumb than to throw an idea out there and wait until someone tells you how great it is and encourages you to proceed. There’s a difference between being a people-pleaser hungry for praise and being a person who’s looking to advance his/her career.

If you’re just in it for praise, you offer ideas but do nothing unless someone tells you how smart and great you are. If you want to advance your career, act first then present results instead of ideas. Worst case they still don’t lavish you with praise and promote you (or you get fired), but at least you got to see for yourself whether or not your idea was actually good or not. If it was genuinely good and you’re still ignored, that’s probably a good indication you should start looking for a job at a place that will value your insights and reward you for them.

Just as it’s true in relationships, it’s true in the workplace: you can’t change people. If you’re an idea person working for non-receptive managers, you can have a million great ideas and get nowhere–or you can take your ideas and go somewhere that values creativity and initiative.

But I cannot overemphasize enough the point that you cannot expect anyone else to care as much about your career as you do. Your success is completely dependent on the choices you make. Yes, a mentor and a champion is an excellent thing to have, but it is up to you to find one and nurture and maintain the relationship.

I continually come back to this point because I have seen otherwise-talented individuals who don’t go nearly as far as they could because they seem to expect growth to come to them by default, and are surprised and somewhat resentful when it doesn’t. They start off strong, but are unwilling to make the effort and connections needed to sustain any trajectory. They look at certain people in higher authority positions and think, “Pfft, I’m smarter than she is.” Their thought may very well be right, but it is also irrelevant.

On the other hand, I feel strongly that a manager has a responsibility to create an environment where ideas are valued, even when the person behind them is an inexperienced communicator. So I guess, I’d give managers similar advice to what you’re giving junior staff–get better at stimulating questions and accepting ideas and always learn and grow.