>Yeah I don’t really get why some people in the community have decided that their staff titles mean they’re some kind of warrior monk caste, I've never been pr

>Yeah I don’t really get why some people in the community have decided that their staff titles mean they’re some kind of warrior monk caste, I've never been promoted, nor have I ever promoted anyone to "staff plus" because of warrior-monk like engineering skills. Most often it is a combination of good soft skills and proven decision making around people and organization objectives. Usually it is because the person being promoted had the ability to make the business unit better in some way that is needed. And yes, that does mean that every promotion is really done to make the person a step above the newly promoted person even more effective. > It’s just another regular step on the ladder you make by doing a reasonably good job This is the secret. A reasonably good job means you are learning not just how to make software, but also how to lead others that are making software. There's nothing mythic about it. But for many it requires going outside of the comfort of the purely technical.