That's precisely the point. Non-programmers are largely uninterested in the technical abilities separating 90th percentile coders from 99th percentile coders.

That's precisely the point. Non-programmers are largely uninterested in the technical abilities separating 90th percentile coders from 99th percentile coders. It's only when you simultaneously demonstrate worth on an orthogonal axis (e.g. management) that people start to assume you're a top-tier dev.