[sinelanguage]

Neil Young said it best, "keep your head down and walk forward". Don't just look at the people who you perceive are moving forward, look at the ones that appear to be standing still, and what do you think is the difference?. Sure there are those that have moved forward due to being able to dramatize with success the superficial things and say/wear/do/hangoutwith all the right things and trick higher ups into believing they have more real authentic capability than they actual do, but that only lasts so long. Where you really move forward is in your authenticity. If you authentically love what you do, and you excel at it, and you look forward to advancing it forward no matter where you work or what you're paid, then you're pretty much invincible. You will naturally exude passion for your chosen skillsets, you will embrace all that is thrown at you with gusto, and people will naturally gravitate towards that. Most of all, pay it forward. Mentor those around you in the same skillset area, and make a difference and demonstrate that even though you are an expert and SR level in your field, that the success of the team is rooted in the power of everyone being able to produce at the same level as you. When you do that, whether you are intentionally trying to impress your superiors or not, it won't matter, they will notice, and if they don't, then you have some choices to make. In field of dreams, the phrase, "if you build it they will come", applies to you as a person, if you become the highly skilled, sr level expert, that exudes passion and innovative mindsets, people will come, they will gravitate towards it and you will be successful. Maybe not as fast as those just phoning it in and playing the parts really well, but slow and steady always wins the race. I work in a highly competitive environment and I am not even a full time staff, yet because I practice what I just preached, whenever a PM needs dev work done, my name usually comes up very early in the conversation. That wasn't a calculated thing on my part, I didn't play a game, I didn't coax anyone my direction, I just work really hard because I love being a developer, I constantly evolve and advance my skills because I feel empowered when I build more advanced things with code, and my authenticity and passion is obvious and authentic and people with good intentions will always appreciate that and gravitate towards it. Now does this work EVERYWHERE? Hell no, but its up to you to decide what works for you in terms of where you work, and don't compromise your authenticity just to move up or make more, its not worth it in the end.

[AtmaScout]

That was very well said. Thank you.

I knew a VP who always seemed to move up, even though his projects failed. It eventually caught up to him. He wasn't being authenticate.