My Five Foundations Framework
The Career Framework Every Tech Professional Needs to Get Promoted
Engineering career ladders lay out the “what” of the software engineering career path—what competencies and behaviors are needed at each milestone. But they provide little to no help on the “how.”
Yet, how–and how quickly–you acquire and exhibit the next level of competencies has huge implications on your career trajectory, financial future, and sense of fulfillment in your life!
To move from mid-level to senior engineer, you need skills like project management, cross-functional collaboration, stakeholder communication, and leadership.
For senior to staff promotions, you need strategic vision, influence, and the ability to provide an engineering perspective.
At every career level, you also need to differentiate yourself and advocate for your hard work to get promoted.
All of these skills fall in the following five essential areas:
Clarity of purpose and high psychological safety
Technical excellence
Thriving relationships
Proven leadership skills
Skillful self-advocacy
Therefore, my coaching framework comprises of these five essential foundations. By focusing on your growth in each of these areas holistically, I help you master the skills necessary to advance your career quickly!
Here is more information on each of these foundations and how they relate to each other:
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Get clarity on your career path.
Feel psychologically safe at your workplace to do your best work.
Create a safe environment for others to express themselves and contribute their best work.
Thrive with confidence!
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Cultivate technical depth and breadth to do your job with efficiency and quality.
Continuously learn about both tech and business.
Differentiate yourself through your technical vision and effective execution.
Become a strong technical leader!
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Cultivate strong and collaborative relationships to win together.
Identify solutions to future complex problems together. Enable others to build on those solutions.
Multiply your impact to get to the next level!
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Lead with curiosity, empathy, influence, and a long-term technical vision.
Drive change through collaboration and innovation.
Transition to a leadership role!
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Learn the strategic skill of differentiating yourself from others.
Partner with your leadership to achieve your career goals.
Advocate for yourself to forge your path forward and upward!
The Full Five Foundations Framework
Coaching: The Missing Piece for the Growth and Advancement of SWEs
This PDF describes the coaching framework mentioned on the homepage in more detail. Download it to learn:
The 5 Essential Areas software engineers need to focus on to get the career advancement they desire
How you can track your progress against key milestones in each area to reveal blindspots and save time