Technical mastery is essential for every embedded engineer, but in the corporate engineering landscape it is only one piece of the progression puzzle. Many talented engineers stagnate not because they lack technical skill, but because they fail to develop the complementary abilities that enable influence, visibility, trust, and leadership.

In this microtalk, I will distill key non-technical skills that accelerate career growth for embedded professionals:

• Communicating technical ideas to non-technical stakeholders.
• Building cross-functional relationships.
• Developing business awareness and understanding product impact.
• Proactively shaping engineering decisions.
• Mentoring others to scale your own knowledge.

I will share real examples from my journey leading global firmware teams, illustrating how engineers who cultivate these capabilities expand their impact, gain organizational recognition, and open doors to leadership roles. This talk aims to provide a concrete perspective on how to evolve from an excellent engineer into a high-value engineering leader in a corporate environment.