As developers, we’re accustomed to learning new frameworks and programming languages—we’re self-taught experts who leverage tutorials and online resources to expand our technical capabilities. But what happens when you reach that career plateau where coding skills alone aren’t enough to advance? After eight years as a developer, I found myself at this exact crossroads, with no clear path forward in my company. There were no defined roles like Staff Engineer, no clear expectations, and little support for continued growth beyond senior developer positions.
While most companies now offer clearer career paths than before, these still vary widely between organizations. The responsibility ultimately falls on us to drive our own development forward. Let’s explore the essential non-technical skills and mindsets that can propel your career to the next level—whether you’re aiming to become a Staff Engineer, Principal Engineer, or Distinguished Engineer.
Understanding Career Paths
After progressing through junior and senior developer roles, career paths typically diverge. The Individual Contributor path includes positions like Staff Engineer, Principal Engineer, and Distinguished Engineer—each with increasing scope of influence and responsibility.
Staff Engineers are technical experts who make architectural decisions, solve complex problems, and act as a bridge between developers and leadership. Principal Engineers take on strategic responsibility for larger projects, influence long-term technological decisions, and set company-wide standards. Distinguished Engineers are industry leaders who drive innovation and significantly contribute to a company’s technical vision, often influencing the broader industry.
Alternatively, the leadership path leads to Engineering Manager, Director of Engineering, and VP of Engineering roles, focusing on people management. A third option is specialization in fields like Machine Learning, Site Reliability Engineering, DevOps, or QA.
Your company might not have clearly defined these career paths yet. However, the responsibilities these roles encompass still exist somewhere in your organization. Don’t wait for the title—start taking on these responsibilities now to demonstrate your value and readiness for advancement.
Actionable Insights:
- Map out the career path options in your organization or industry to understand the available growth trajectories
- Identify the gap between your current role and your target position, focusing on both technical and non-technical skills
- Start taking on responsibilities of your desired next role before you have the title to demonstrate readiness
Business Understanding
As developers, our job extends far beyond writing code—we create business value through technology. To build the right solutions and make appropriate decisions, we need a deep understanding of what our business actually needs.
We can’t rely solely on customers (who often don’t know exactly what they want) or non-technical colleagues to guide us. We must take responsibility for acquiring sufficient business knowledge: understanding how our company makes money, which products are most successful, who our key customers are, and where resources are allocated.
This business comprehension allows us to use our time efficiently, set priorities effectively, and make better trade-offs. We’ll know where to invest our energy for maximum impact.
Actionable Insights:
- Shadow colleagues in other departments to understand the entire value stream
- Regularly engage with the company strategy and goals, understanding not just what they are but why they exist
- Actively seek and analyze customer feedback to better understand actual needs
Effective Communication
Gone are the days of developers working alone in garages. Today, we’re part of larger teams and complex organizations, collaborating with various stakeholders—service providers, customers, and different business units. Learning to communicate effectively with these stakeholders is essential.
This means speaking their language, not just tech jargon. In the insurance industry, for example, this might require learning industry-specific terminology to properly understand requirements and requests.
Additionally, proactively engaging with stakeholders to understand their motives, desires, and needs enables targeted collaboration. By building alliances and advancing shared interests, we can implement ideas and achieve success together.
Actionable Insights:
- Learn the business terminology relevant to your industry to communicate on equal footing with stakeholders
- Proactively schedule regular check-ins with key stakeholders to understand their priorities and challenges
- Practice translating technical concepts into business terms that resonate with different audiences
Task vs. Impact
Understanding the difference between a task and its actual impact is crucial. Moving a checkout button on a website might seem like a simple frontend task requiring just one line of code. However, the impact could be enormous—potentially increasing online shop revenue by 6%.
Here’s a simple mental model to support us: Imagine each developer has a virtual monetary value representing the value they create for the company. Some have a higher amount due to more experience and influence, others a lower one. Our goal is to increase this virtual value by enhancing our effectiveness and impact. This isn’t practically calculable, and comparisons aren’t possible since every person is individual. Nevertheless, this concept serves as a bridge to motivate us to increase our own value by deliberately working on our influence and skills. By increasing our impact, we contribute more to the company’s success.
For developers, it’s essential to understand both the specific task and its underlying impact. This helps us recognize the true value of our work and make informed decisions about where to invest our time and energy for maximum benefit to the organization.
Actionable Insights:
- Always ask about the business impact of each task to understand its importance beyond the technical requirements
- View your work through both technical and business lenses to better communicate its value
- Focus your energy on high-impact tasks, even when they might not be the most technically interesting
Knowledge Sharing
Imagine a typical developer workflow: analyze, implement, test, and deploy a new feature or fix a problem. In this simple workflow, the task would be complete after solving the problem. But we can make this workflow more valuable by utilizing internal resources. Instead of relying solely on external sources like Stack Overflow or Google, we could ask colleagues: How have other teams solved this problem? What internal best practices exist? This promotes exchange and benefits from others’ experiences.
Even more important is the subsequent step: after implementing a solution, we should actively share our knowledge. A good developer solves a problem; an excellent developer shares their solution so others can benefit and standards can evolve. This improves the application landscape and leaves a lasting impression.
Additionally, it’s important to actively avoid knowledge monopolies by sharing our expertise and involving others in our topics. In the past, being indispensable might have been a sign of job security; today, it’s more of a warning sign when knowledge isn’t shared. The key to reaching a higher level lies in empowering others and growing together.
Actionable Insights:
- Document solutions to common problems in a shared knowledge base that’s accessible to your team
- Schedule regular knowledge-sharing sessions where team members can present solutions to interesting problems
- Mentor junior developers to multiply your impact and create a culture of continuous learning
Manager’s Perspective
Leadership figures shouldn’t be viewed merely as hierarchical superiors but as valuable resources who can support our professional development. They have oversight of broader contexts, understand strategic decisions, and can help us better prioritize our focus. Rather than just receiving instructions, we should use them as sparring partners—whether to get feedback, gain insights into company decisions, or discuss our own ideas and career goals.
Preparation is crucial for effective conversations. Before a one-on-one, it’s worth considering which topics are currently relevant. What questions do I have? What challenges do I see? What value will this conversation bring? Good structuring helps not only us but also the manager to make the conversation productive. At the same time, the personal aspect shouldn’t be lost—trust is the foundation of strong collaboration.
From a manager’s perspective, it’s particularly valuable when employees actively think ahead and take responsibility for the exchange. Shared notes or documentation can help make conversations traceable and sustainable. Ultimately, our manager’s goals are also our own—if we know them, we can better understand their decisions and actively contribute to implementing them.
An often-overlooked point is expectations: What does my manager expect from me? But equally important is that we openly share our own expectations and career goals. This creates clarity and provides space for targeted feedback and support. A good leader should act as a mentor and coach to promote our development.
A final but crucial point: Leaders aren’t just there to solve our problems. Instead of just presenting challenges, we should bring solution scenarios directly and actively work on implementation. This shows ownership and ensures that our ideas aren’t just heard but also implemented.
Actionable Insights:
- Come to one-on-ones with a prepared agenda that includes your current challenges, achievements, and specific questions
- Present solutions alongside problems to demonstrate your problem-solving abilities and initiative
- Explicitly discuss your career goals and ask for specific feedback on your progress toward them
Implementation
The many dimensions we need to address on our career path represent a significant challenge. However, it’s important to remember that this development process is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s about progressing step by step, perhaps by focusing on one specific dimension each quarter.
Your daily work will change: fewer individual tasks, more communication with the business and stakeholders, and more time for mentoring and knowledge sharing. This approach isn’t for everyone, but it offers the opportunity to operate at a higher level.
One of the biggest challenges is creating the space to drive things forward at a larger scale. Talk to your leadership, get feedback, and clearly communicate your plans and goals within the team. This not only creates understanding but also support, and it’s an important first step toward change.
Remember to consciously design your workday without completely removing yourself from daily tasks. It’s about finding a balance and gradually integrating changes. Take the opportunity to exchange ideas with the product owner and colleagues to bring them along on your journey. After all, it’s about growing together and proactively taking control of your own development.
There are many good resources to further educate yourself and support your development. But the most valuable resource is us developers ourselves. Use your network, talk openly about career development, and don’t let stigma arise. Be proactive—we must take our further development into our own hands.
Actionable Insights:
- Block time in your calendar specifically for higher-level work like mentoring, knowledge sharing, and strategic thinking
- Set quarterly development goals that focus on one skill dimension at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed
- Build a support network of peers who are also looking to advance their careers for mutual encouragement and accountability
Remember, your career growth is ultimately in your hands. The path beyond senior developer might not be clearly marked at your company, but by developing these crucial non-technical skills, you’re preparing yourself for advancement regardless of your organization’s formal structure. Start building these capabilities today, and you’ll be ready when opportunity knocks.
