The more senior you get in your career, the more you recognize the evolving nature of your responsibilities. A blend of 4 core skills starts to shape your day-to-day work, decisions, and overall career development
1. Your Core Tech skills
Every role demands a specific foundational skill set. For a Software Engineer, this includes coding and system design. For a Chef, it's cooking; for a Driver, it's driving. These core tech skills shine as the main ingredient, especially at the beginning of your career. As they hold the keys to entering the domain
2. Product management
Nope, this isn’t about the meaningless, endless meetings discussing hypotheticals and wasting time. I mean here the true product management, the one that involves consistently maintaining a clear vision for the project: understanding precisely what needs to be done, why it's important, where the next steps should lead, and how to get there effectively.
3. Project management
Sometimes, it gets tricky to differentiate it from the previous point. I don't blame you.
The main objective of this skill is one word, "Delivery". removing obstacles from the way to ensure that work is completed and key milestones are reached.
4. People management and skills
Building a successful team is not as simple as gathering employees under one name. The more senior you get in your career, the more you need to think about how to make the team work efficiently and how to help them grow. This involves understanding their needs, communicating effectively, and helping to resolve challenges.
As you advance, the importance of these four ingredients becomes increasingly clear. The expectations from you as a senior get broader, requiring you to fluidly apply these skills in varying proportions depending on the specific situation. Fluidity is key.