Your senior executives want you to be:

1. Be a top notch engineer, able to excel in your day job while getting along reasonably well with others

2. Build a track record of strong results

3. Provide tangible ways to improve the products and/or customer experience 

Doing all of that, consistently, would be pretty good, right?

BUT, if you’re ever going to actually join the senior executive team, you also have to be able to communicate, collaborate, and build strong relationships across the company. 

In short, you need to be relatable to the people who bring in the MONEY to the business—the ones who are brilliant with people, managing relationships, and listening to clients. 

Add authentic social skills on top of your engineering chops and now you have the makings of an amazing career as a leader who can inspire others as well.