Well, the article focuses on the first 10 years of one's career. Once you hit that 10-year mark you are aiming for positions like Staff/Principal Engineer - tho

Well, the article focuses on the first 10 years of one's career. Once you hit that 10-year mark you are aiming for positions like Staff/Principal Engineer - those are harder to get, and often require you to spend more than 2 years in the company before you are seriously considered for them. And not because of some weird politics, but because to do those jobs really well you need intimate knowledge not only of mainstream technologies, but also stuff internal to the company, like legacy code bases, team structures, long term goals and strategies, etc.