How do you know the skillset you need to get promoted?

Context matters, but you can find leading skills that make a software engineer stand out.

CLAIM Area Skill Associate Intermediate Senior Lead
Communication Async Communication Shares updates reactively. Shares clear updates with some gaps. Shares concise, regular async updates. Sets async communication standards.
Communication Code Reviews Gives vague comments. Gives specific feedback. Gives actionable, respectful feedback. Builds effective review culture.
Communication Technical Writing Avoids writing docs. Writes basic docs. Writes clear, useful technical docs. Champions documentation culture.
Communication Tech Alignment Struggles to explain tech matters to designers and product managers Can explain certain tech topics to non tech people but requires follow-ups Can explain complex tech topics to designers and pms in a simple and understandable ways Coach team members to communicate complex tech topics in a direct and understandable manner
Communication Feedback (Giving) Avoids giving feedback or makes it personal. Shares feedback occasionally, not always helpful. Gives clear, helpful design feedback. Coaches others to give and receive critique productively.
Communication Feedback (Receiving) Defensive when challenged. Accepts feedback but reactive. Seeks feedback to improve. Models feedback culture.
Communication Saying No Avoids saying no. Says no with peer support. Says no confidently, explains why based on prioritization. Coaches team members to say no as a tool to remain focused
Leadership Context Sharing Waits for others to explain context. Asks for context when needed. Shares context proactively with peers. Ensures team deeply understands product and user goals.
Leadership Prioritization Works on tasks without questioning priority. Challenges priorities with guidance. Balances technical needs with product priorities. Shapes team priorities for maximum impact.
Leadership Ownership Completes assigned tasks. Owns small features reliably. Owns complex features end-to-end. Owns technical direction.
Leadership Mentoring Helps only when asked. Gives basic guidance. Proactively mentors teammates. Develops other mentors.
Leadership Decision-Making Relies on others for decisions. Makes simple decisions with guidance. Makes thoughtful technical decisions. Guides complex tradeoffs.
Alignment Discovery Waits for others to define problems. Participates in basic discovery with guidance. Proactively investigates user needs and problems. Leads discovery with trios, shapes problem understanding.
Alignment Ideation Offers few or unstructured ideas. Contributes ideas with some structure. Generates clear, valuable solutions to problems. Facilitates high-quality ideation across teams.
Alignment Product Understanding Lacks context about users. Understands goals but task-focused. Aligns technical work with goals. Translates strategy to plans.
Alignment Collaboration Works in isolation. Collaborates when asked. Proactively collaborates across roles. Builds collaborative culture.
Alignment Initiative Management Misses initiative risks. Flags unclear initiative with help. Clarifies and refines initiatives. Manages initiatives risks.
Impact Delivery Reliability Frequent bugs or delays. Delivers small features with help. Consistently delivers high-quality features. Ensures reliable delivery at scale.
Impact Problem Solving Needs guidance for issues. Solves well-defined problems. Solves complex problems independently. Unblocks team on hard problems.
Impact Impact Orientation Focuses only on tasks. Delivers meaningful improvements. Prioritizes highest-impact work. Shapes strategic priorities.
Impact Incremental Delivery Works on large tasks without splitting. Breaks work into smaller parts with help. Designs features for small, frequent releases. Drives incremental delivery strategy across teams.
Impact Outcome Focus Focuses only on completing assigned tasks. Connects tasks to expected outcomes with support. Aligns work to clear user or business outcomes. Leads team to deliver measurable, strategic outcomes.
Methods Code Quality Writes messy code. Follows standards with help. Writes clean, maintainable code. Sets coding standards.
Methods System Design Ignores scale or maintenance. Designs small components with help. Designs scalable systems. Defines architectural vision.
Methods Testing & Validation Relies on others to test. Writes basic tests. Ensures reliable test coverage. Improves team testing.
Methods Tech Debt Management Ignores tech debt. Recognizes debt with prompting. Addresses tech debt proactively. Reduces tech debt systematically.
Methods AI Literacy Unfamiliar with AI tools. Uses basic AI tools with help. Applies AI tools to work or product. Guides responsible AI adoption.