But it doesn't have to be this way.
Why does this happen? The fact of the matter is that some engineers are naturally gifted with the behaviors that make them an asset to management. The behaviors that make their life easy and the team run more smoothly.
When you don’t, you get left behind.
I did all the same things too. I thought if I put in more hours, wrote better code, or talked the loudest I could fix it. I could improve my skills and get noticed. Then maybe if I got noticed enough, I could get promoted.
But it didn’t work. I came so close to going down the path I just described.
As my last ditch effort, I started looking at the most successful engineers I knew. Reaching out and studying what they did. Talking to engineering managers about what only the best engineers they manage do on a daily basis. Interviewing them and taking meticulous notes.
I broke down their behavior. Painstakingly analyzed it. Slowly it started to make sense. I started to see what I was doing wrong.
I always thought by being the best coder I could be promoted as fast as I wanted. But in reality, raw technical skills stop mattering as much after a certain point. Learning more data structures or design patterns weren’t going to get me promoted. But certain soft skills, ways of communicating, and decision making frameworks that I’d been ignoring were.
Was that really it? Is this all I need to do? I got excited. I had to test it out. Piece by piece, I started tweaking my behavior to emulate these people.
To my surprise, it worked. Holy shit it worked! I started getting the results I wanted. I wasn’t the smartest engineer on the team anymore. I was definitely not the hardest worker. Yet the more and more clarity I got, the more I avoided reverting back to my old habits, the more I kept progressing.
My manager started trusting me to run standups. Then backlog grooming. Small projects. Large projects. A few months after that I got to lead one of the biggest projects at the company. Eventually I got promoted and started leading a team.
I started wanting to go to work in the morning. Doing my job was fun again. I was challenged enough to be engaged and constantly learning again. I would come home feeling fulfilled, riding the high of my day. I was really making a difference while doing my best work. I felt that first week magic all over again.
Looking back, I feel so stupid for not seeing it earlier. It wasn’t even that difficult. In fact it was one of the easiest things I’ve done in my career. Now I just wish I could go back and tell my younger self all this my first day as a software engineer. I could be so much further along in my career than I already am.
I don’t want you to have to live with this same regret. Don’t make the same mistakes I did.
Image you can have the career of your dreams. And within just a few months.
By changing a few key behaviors, you can avoid all of this or break out of the cycle you are already in.
You easily get promoted to Senior Engineer in the next review cycle. You can get a $10,000, $30,000, even $50,000 pay increase compared to your current salary. Tens of thousands of extra dollars in your pocket every year that you can put towards a better apartment, nicer meals, or more vacations. Or maybe you just finally want to stop worrying about all that student loan debt you’ve been carrying around and feel financially free.
You can get experience leading impactful projects and teams where you make the crucial decisions. You'll be the first pick to work on the most interesting and technically challenging problems your job has to offer. People will stop and listen intently whenever you decide to speak in meetings. You can really make a difference in people’s lives.
You'll learn how to position yourself so that if you want to change jobs, you know that you can get multiple offers from top-tier tech companies. Or disruptive, fast-paced startups. You can work remotely, giving you the freedom to live anywhere in the world. Imagine working on the beach while the best companies fight over you, one-upping each other to have you come work for them.
You wouldn’t think it’s possible, but trust me, it is. And it feels amazing.
These changes in behavior will make your day to day less stressful, allowing you to work less hours and get the same amount done. You’ll finally have time to start that new hobby, go to the gym, or just spend more time with your friends and family. You’ll have deeper and more fulfilling relationships with everyone around you, not being consumed by work all the time. And you’ll still get promoted faster than you are now.
Book your call now.
Are you ready to stop brute forcing your career and optimize your path towards a promotion? Sign up for a consultation call with me personally right now, completely free of charge. During this time, I will tell you the single most important thing I did to get my manager to trust me to deliver bigger projects than I had ever worked on before.
I hate seeing talented engineers being held back by stupid behaviors that they could easily fix if only they knew what they were missing. I want to help, but I only have room for a handful of clients in order to maintain the quality of coaching, so space is extremely limited. Sign up now before yet another opportunity passes you by.
- Brandon