I work at a small company and have about a dozen engineers under me. When I approach these problems I do this: Identify where your want to be when you retire.

I work at a small company and have about a dozen engineers under me. When I approach these problems I do this: Identify where your want to be when you retire. This could range from anywhere between CEO to a fortune 50 company to an individual contributor at a small start up. Next identify attributes of the company or industry that are important to you. There wrong answer. Next identify where you want to be in 2-5 years, ignoring job titles. This becomes our immediate action plan. Now see what job titles fit into that at your current position, and develop a checklist to get there.