Being a Staff-engineer is not just a role. It’s the intersection of the role, your behaviors, your impact, and the organization’s recognition of all those things. — 15: 177-178
Much as the Lorax speaks for the trees in his popular children’s book, Staff engineers speak for their companies’ technology. Technology cannot speak for itself and requires effective advocates on its behalf. Folks who successfully advance technology are pragmatic, deliberate, and focus more on the long-term trend of progress than viewing each individual decision as a make-or-break crisis. It can be helpful to think of this as being a part-time product manager for technology. — 20: 250-253
The most effective Staff engineers pair a moderate amount of mentorship with considerably more sponsorship: putting your thumb directly on the scale to help advance and support those around you. — 22: 269-270
remember that you’re representing the interests of all of engineering, not just your own. — 23: 286-287
A Staff-plus title allows you to reinvest the energy you’ve previously spent on proving yourself into the core work you’re evaluated on. — 28: 353-354
Stop spending your social capital repairing relationships frayed by conflict, and learn to collaborate with folks with different priorities and perspectives. This also comes with the added benefit of fewer folks complaining about you to your manager. — 33: 425-427