My problem with these sorts of discussions is that they try to put technical know-how on the same footing as social aptitude, charisma, and other "soft skills".
I can throw darts on a map and find billions of people capable of "connectedness" and "leadership". Finding you capable "technical" talent on the other hand...
This ease is mostly due to connectedness and leadership being naturally grown out of decades of organic social interactions that people need to do in order to... you know... survive. You can accidentally reinforce these properties just by being 1.) a member of the human species and 2.) alive.
No one accidentally reinforces the understanding required to mentally maintain the thousands of arcane exceptions written by the result of C-Levels pivoting endlessly across outsourced teams for the cheapest price, compiling the world's worst spaghetti code responsible for an everything-on-the-line application.
And if this seems a bitter, then look into your own organizations and experiences: Who gets fired/quits the most? Human Resources, C-Levels, Marketing or the Technical team? Whose ass is on the line when the fires start? Who is expected to work 10+ hour days every day for all of eternity?
Looking for unicorns does not make you a unicorn hunter. It makes you delusional. A senior knows unicorns don't exist even if people look to him/her as one.
> My problem with these sorts of discussions is that they try to put technical know-how on the same footing as social aptitude, charisma, and other "soft skills".
You really do need some level of each.
Difference is you can reach a pretty low bar in term of social skills, being approachable and being able to communicate, vs a high bar technically.
I can throw darts on a map and find billions of people capable of "connectedness" and "leadership". Finding you capable "technical" talent on the other hand...
This ease is mostly due to connectedness and leadership being naturally grown out of decades of organic social interactions that people need to do in order to... you know... survive. You can accidentally reinforce these properties just by being 1.) a member of the human species and 2.) alive.
No one accidentally reinforces the understanding required to mentally maintain the thousands of arcane exceptions written by the result of C-Levels pivoting endlessly across outsourced teams for the cheapest price, compiling the world's worst spaghetti code responsible for an everything-on-the-line application.
And if this seems a bitter, then look into your own organizations and experiences: Who gets fired/quits the most? Human Resources, C-Levels, Marketing or the Technical team? Whose ass is on the line when the fires start? Who is expected to work 10+ hour days every day for all of eternity?
Looking for unicorns does not make you a unicorn hunter. It makes you delusional. A senior knows unicorns don't exist even if people look to him/her as one.