Why 'Testing' is more important than 'Automation' as a career

Today I wrote to David Gilbert asking him why he is wanting to move away from automation and his reply was worth every cents ............ He wrote ........

Meeta -- it is not that I want to get away from automation, but that I want to shift the focus of my career.
I enjoy doing automation work, I find it mentally challenging and rewarding, in the right environments. Unfortunately, it is often done badly, and then I just find it frustrating to be a test code monkey doing things that I believe will not add value long term.
But the larger point is, as a technical automation implementation expert, I am very limited as to where my career can go. Tool jockies are a dime a dozen, and no one really cares about their opinion. If I want to continue to grow my career, influence, and recognition in the industry...if I want to try to be influential and do more than just make a living...then I have to break out of the mold of just being another tool jockey. I have to become a methodologist, and a teacher and promoter of ideas. It is fortunate that this also provides an outlet for my more creative and inquisitive nature, and that it allows a venue for my opinions about what good testing is and is not.
David