Title
Progress is mostly about social skills than it is about code. You can write the best code possible, but it doesn’t count for squat unless you can talk to the right people and show them how your brillance will help them.
Thats right them, that specific individual. Not the company, certainly not your career, but them. Sometimes of course there can be multiple people who benefit. But usually the same piece of work should be reframed based on who it is that you’re talking to. And maybe the way you’re benefiting this person is by finding an efficiency that saves the company money or development time (ergo money), and they get to tell their boss about all the awesome things their team is doing.
Use your competence for other people’s selfish reasons and you’ll find you end up being the most selfish of them all.
PS
Be nice to people.
PPS
Find a nice mentor, boy do they help