Technical competence gets you started, but lasting impact requires product thinking, project execution, people skills, and high agency backed by feedback and humility.
Technical skill is the entry ticket for any engineer, but it quickly plateaus as peers catch up. The article argues that true impact comes from mastering four disciplines-technical skill, product thinking, project execution, and people skills-and that senior roles are judged on contributions across all four.
The writer stresses that feedback and humility are the only reliable ways to spot blind spots in those areas. By actively seeking critique from admired colleagues and listening without ego, you can identify the discipline where you lag and focus improvement there. The piece also highlights agency: choosing to act, lead projects, mentor, and make work visible, rather than waiting for recognition.
Practical steps include finding a mentor, leading or proposing projects, presenting results, and creating spaces for others to do the same. The author cites "The Staff Engineers Path" and "Thanks for the Feedback" as influences, underscoring that high-agency behavior, combined with continuous feedback, bridges the gap between effort and progress.
Check out the full stdlib collection for more frameworks, templates, and guides to accelerate your technical leadership journey.