Staff Engineer Behaviors: Breaking the ceiling into Staff Engineering pt. 2

Key behaviors that help engineers make transformational leaps in their career and scale their impact and influence in a sustainable and meaningful way.

Today we are going to dive into part 2 of our series on staff-plus engineering.

In the first part of our discussion, we explored the core expectations — the “what” of staff-engineering. What defines the Staff-Plus level, common expectations across companies, and the key gaps that often cause Senior Engineers to get stuck.

If you missed part 1, you’ll want to check it out here: https://levelupsoftwareengineering.substack.com/p/breaking-the-staff-engineer-ceiling

Now, let's shift our focus to the how: the behaviors that enable top performing engineers to make transformational leaps in their careers and help them scale their impact and influence in a sustainable way.

About the author

Thiago Ghisi is the Director of Engineering for the Mobile Platform team at Nubank. He has nearly 20 years of experience in the software industry, having worked at companies like Apple, ThoughtWorks, and Amex. He also hosts a podcast called "Engineering Advice You Didn't Ask For" and writes extensively about Career Growth & Leadership on both the IC & the Management track on LinkedIn & Twitter.

Alright, let’s dive in 👇🏼

Why is “behavior” so important for staff+ engineers?

When we talk about behavior, we're referring to the consistent actions and patterns that define how you approach your work and interact with others.

Behavior is not just about your technical prowess; it's about how you influence, lead, and drive outcomes within your organization. It's not just about what you know or your potential; it's about what you've actually done and how you consistently operate following that structure.

Ever wonder why companies place so much emphasis on behavioral interviews? Questions like "Tell me about a time you resolved a conflict with a peer" or  "Describe a situation where you influenced organizational change" or "Can you give an example of an innovative solution you developed?" aren't just fillers—they're windows into how you've navigated real-world challenges - your patterns of behaviors!

What you've accomplished before is often the strongest indicator of what you'll achieve in the future. These questions aim to understand not just what you are capable of, but what you have actually done. As the saying goes, "Past behavior is the best predictor of future performance."

When it comes to promotions, especially at the Staff-Plus level, companies typically promote based on demonstrated behaviors and achievements, not just potential.

To be promotable, you need to already be operating at the next level, showcasing the behaviors expected of that role - very similar to what you do in an interview for a different company. Promotions are often lagging indicators, recognizing that you're already performing at the higher level.

An amazing reference here is the book the effective hiring manager by Mark Horstman (co-founder of Manager Tools). It not only teaches you how to design effective behavior interview questions, but also shows you many examples of effective answers for multiple levels and job titles. Strongly recommend!

What strategies & behaviors do top-performing engineers apply to achieve promotions to staff-level & beyond?

Over the past eight years, I've participated in numerous promotion committees and performance calibrations in companies with Staff-Plus levels. This experience has allowed me to observe firsthand what works and what doesn’t.

Throughout this process, I've collected a lot of data on the behaviors and achievements that have enabled engineers to make transformational leaps in their careers (basically being promoted or rated as a top performer). 

From this data, we can see both positive behaviors that propel engineers forward and negative behaviors that hold them back. I believe they can help and guide those of us aspiring to be Staff-Plus Engineers.

To better understand these patterns, I've broken down the Staff-Plus promotions into three key transformational leaps:

1. Leap 1: From Senior/Lead to Staff

2. Leap 2: From Staff to Senior Staff

3. Leap 3: To Principal & Beyond

Let's dive into each of these leaps to explore the behaviors that make a difference.

Leap 1: From Senior/Lead to Staff

The first significant leap is moving from a Senior or Lead Engineer role to a Staff Engineer. This transition is about expanding your impact beyond your immediate team and taking on greater ownership.

Based on observations and data collected over the years, the key behaviors that enable this transition are:

1. Strategic Decision-Making

Being strategic isn't just about using the latest technologies or solving complex technical problems—it's about driving technical impact that aligns with the company's business priorities and goals. This means understanding the bigger picture and making decisions that propel the business forward. Many engineers mistakenly focus on technical solutions without considering whether they align with the company's direction. To stand out, ensure that your technical decisions support and enhance business objectives.

2. Effective Mentorship and Leadership

To scale your impact, you can't do everything yourself. As you grow, your role evolves from being solely an implementer to also being a leader and mentor.

This doesn't mean you stop coding or solving problems; instead, you guide others to do so effectively. You go from being a solver to creating other solvers in your organization.

Mentorship allows you to amplify your influence by empowering others to contribute meaningfully. Leading projects and ideas, and helping others grow, are critical behaviors that signal you're operating at a Staff level.

The canonical and most impactful read for me on this is Tanya Reilly's article: Having impact in engineering by supporting other people's ideas

3. Influencing Beyond Your Team

Staff Engineers have a broader sphere of influence than others.

You're not just collaborating with your immediate engineering peers; you're working cross-functionally with product managers, designers, customer support, and other stakeholders.

High-impact projects often require coordination across multiple functions, and being able to "speak multiple languages"—understanding and addressing the concerns of different stakeholders—is vital. This cross-functional collaboration is essential for delivering products and solutions that succeed not just technically but also in the market.

This is when you get to demonstrate your ability to influence strategically in decisions, mentoring and leading beyond one team. You show fluency distributing your time, determining where the organization needs you the most and navigating cross-functionally beyond engineering.

Leap 2: From Staff to Senior Staff

The transition from Staff to Senior Staff Engineer involves further broadening your scope of influence and taking on more complex challenges.

At this level, the key behaviors include:

1. End-to-End Leadership in Critical Initiatives

It's not just about strategic decision-making anymore; it's about leading critical initiatives that have significant impact on the organization. This means taking ownership of complex projects that are pivotal to the company's success and seeing them through from conception to completion.

2. Mentoring Across Multiple Teams

Your mentorship now extends beyond your immediate team. You're mentoring engineers across multiple teams, fostering growth, sponsoring people and projects and building capabilities throughout the organization. Your influence is broad and scalable, and you're instrumental in developing the next generation of technical leaders.

3. Operational Excellence and Sustained Impact

Consistency is key at this level. You're not just delivering one successful project; you're ensuring that teams consistently perform at a high level over time. Operational excellence involves establishing processes, practices, and cultures that enable sustained success of the entire company. You're contributing to the stability and reliability of systems and teams across the organization.

This is when you demonstrate you can go from building software yourself to building organizations that build software. You are directly involved leading each and every day.

Leap 3: To Principal & Beyond 🚀

The leap to Principal Engineer and beyond involves operating at the highest levels of technical leadership, often influencing entire business units or the company as a whole.

The behaviors that characterize this leap include:

1. Full Domain Ownership

As a Principal Engineer, You're not just influencing a team or a project; you're shaping the direction of significant portions of the company. Your knowledge and influence span across products. In a company like Google, that would be across YouTube, Google Cloud, Ads, or Search. This broad ownership requires a holistic understanding of the business and technical landscape.

2. Driving Innovation 

At this level, deep technical knowledge becomes a significant asset. You're leveraging your expertise to drive innovation, develop platforms, or create processes that have a transformative impact on the company. You're connecting the dots across different areas, introducing technologies or methodologies that propel the company toward ambitious goals.

3. Adaptive Mentorship

You are not only mentoring other engineers, you are mentoring other functions & levels. You are mentoring managers and directors. You are onboarding other Directors and Staff-Plus engineers. You are mentoring mentors to scale mentorship in the company. You are working with HR to select the Key Talents at the company level. You are part of the promotion committees. You have an input on the performance cycle. You shape the incentive structure of the organization.

At this stage, you're collaborating closely with executives, aligning technical strategies with business objectives. You're contributing to high-level decision-making and helping to steer the company in the right direction.

In many ways, as a principal engineer, you're operating at an executive level, bridging the gap between technology and business leadership.

What Are The Patterns Of Behavior Of Top Performing Engineers Across Levels?

Across all levels, certain behaviors consistently distinguish top performers who successfully advance through the Staff-Plus ranks. These are:

1. Strategic Influence & Ownership

Top performers drive technical and strategic decisions aligned with business goals. They anticipate future challenges and opportunities, positioning the organization to be proactive rather than reactive. This strategic mindset sets them apart.

Top performers don't just execute tasks; they understand the "why" behind them and ensure their work contributes to the company's success.

2. Leadership & Mentorship

Scaling your impact necessitates learning to delegate and develop others.

Effective leaders mentor their colleagues, helping them grow and enabling the team to achieve success more collectively. This isn't limited to one-on-one mentorship; it involves leading by example, guiding teams through projects, and fostering an environment where others can learn by observing and participating.

Leadership and mentorship are critical behaviors for anyone aspiring to advance to Staff levels and beyond. Top performers recognize that their success is tied to the success of their teams.

3. Technical Excellence & Innovation

While deep technical expertise is important, what's more impactful is how you use that expertise to drive innovation.

This means not just being technically proficient but also leveraging your skills to create meaningful change, introduce new ideas, and push the boundaries of what's possible within your organization.

Top performers stay abreast of industry trends, continuously learning and pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Their technical leadership inspires others and elevates the entire organization.

Common pitfalls that prevent talented engineers from progressing in their careers

Just as certain behaviors propel you forward, others can hold you back. Based on my experience and observations of promotion cases that were declined or where engineers received poor performance ratings, the following patterns emerged:

1. Lack of Strategic Vision:

Engineers who fail to align their work with the company's strategic goals often find themselves stuck.

You might be working on technically impressive projects, but if they're not aligned with the company's priorities, they can become distractions rather than assets.

I've seen engineers who spent months optimizing a system that had little impact on the business, while critical projects languished. Their lack of strategic alignment was a significant barrier to advancement.

2. Inability to Delegate & Scale Impact:

If you're unable to delegate tasks and scale your impact through others, you'll struggle to expand your influence beyond your immediate work.

Staff Engineers are expected to work across multiple teams and initiatives. Holding onto tasks and not empowering others limits your ability to take on larger responsibilities.

Developing leadership skills and learning to trust and rely on others is essential for advancing to higher levels.

I once worked with an engineer who was brilliant technically but struggled to let go of details. He micromanaged projects, which frustrated his team and limited his ability to take on larger responsibilities.

3. Poor Stakeholder Management & Communication:

If you're unable to collaborate with product managers, designers, support teams, or other departments, it will hinder your ability to deliver high-impact projects. Managing dependencies, negotiating priorities, and articulating technical challenges in terms that resonate with different audiences are critical skills. Without them, advancing to Staff levels and beyond becomes significantly more challenging.

I've observed engineers with excellent technical skills but who couldn't effectively communicate with non-technical stakeholders. This disconnect often led to misunderstandings, stalled projects and their managers being constantly overwhelmed having to oversee projects that the Staff should have been able to manage on their own.

Action Items:

To wrap up this section, here are some actionable steps to help you apply these insights:

1. Role Models Over Checklists

Rather than focusing on ticking off items on a career ladder checklist, find role models who embody the qualities you aspire to. Observe how they operate, handle challenges, and influence others.

Early in my career, I was fortunate to work with a Principal Engineer who became a mentor. Watching how he navigated complex situations, I learned invaluable lessons that no checklist could provide.

Instead of relying solely on career ladder checklists, seek out role models within your organization. Identify individuals who exemplify the behaviors and skills you aspire to develop. Ask yourself:

• Who are the top individuals who have inspired my professional growth?

• What specific skills or qualities do they possess that I need to develop?

Observing and learning from real-life examples can be far more powerful than trying to tick off items on a generic list. Focus on emulating the behaviors that have led others to success in your specific context.

2. Key Limiting Behaviors & Skills

Everyone has at least one behavior that may be holding them back. Seek feedback from peers, managers, and mentors to identify areas for improvement. Focus on developing these skills to remove barriers to your growth.

If you read What got you here, Won't get you there, you will know the key insight of the book:

Everyone has at least one behavior that holds them back more than anything else they do. Identifying and addressing these limiting factors can have a significant impact on your career progression.

Reflect on the blocking patterns discussed earlier:

• Do you lack strategic alignment in your work?

• Are you struggling to delegate and scale your impact?

• Is stakeholder management or communication a challenge for you?

Prioritize improving in these areas before focusing on developing new skills. Removing these blockers can accelerate your advancement more effectively than adding additional competencies.

3. Inside-Out Growth Perspective

While it's valuable to learn from external sources, focus on understanding the expectations and success patterns within your own organization. Conduct informational interviews with those who have been promoted to understand what it takes to succeed in your specific context.

Every company has its unique culture and expectations. Rather than importing ideas from books or external sources, focus on understanding what success looks like within your organization. It won’t be the same for every team or company where you go.

Conduct informational interviews with colleagues who have recently been promoted or who are operating at the level you aspire to reach. Ask them:

• What does a typical day look like for you?

• How do you manage your time and responsibilities?

• What were the key factors that contributed to your promotion?

• Who was the most critical sponsor for your promotion?

• If there was one, what was the "Staff Project" (more on part III) that got you promoted?

By gaining insights specific to your company's context, you'll be better equipped to align your behaviors and efforts with what is recognized and rewarded internally.

Again, not every company or team values and rewards the same thing. And what a team or company needs and values will change over time.

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Advancing to a Staff-Plus Engineer requires more than just technical expertise. It demands a combination of strategic thinking, leadership, mentorship, and effective communication.

By understanding and embodying the behaviors that drive success, and avoiding common pitfalls, you can navigate the transformational leaps in your career and scale your impact within your organization again and again! 🚀

Well that’s all for this week.

Thanks so much Thiago for diving deep and sharing your insights on staff-plus expectations. I personally learned a lot! 🙌🏼

What stood out to you from today’s deep-dive? Did anything ring true from your experience? Did anything surprise you? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!

As always, you don’t have to wait until the next newsletter to hear from me. You can catch me daily on LinkedIn where I talk about everything software engineering, startups, and growing in your engineering soft skills.

– Caleb 🚀🚀🚀