How to Be Great at Your Job

Really short book, worth a quick skim read (consumed in a single sitting over a couple of hours).

The author assumes a particular organizational context - lots of emails and unclear expectations, you don't already regularly meet with your manager, people regularly work late, presentation is a central part of your work - that sort of thing. As such, it doesn't seem super applicable to my day job as a software engineer. Still some, things are here are useful.

Overcommunicate. If your boss/peers have to ask about the status of a project, it signals some anxiety on their part, and a missed opportunity to proactively communicate on your part. Increase your outbound communication to limit the need for inbound communication (questions, follow ups, etc).

Set the agenda and take the lead in your meetings with your manager. I do wonder how one generates good agenda items every week, especially if you're already giving daily updates to your team in a standup.

If you want to be promoted, set clear goals and check-in with your manager frequently (you set up a weekly 1:1, right?) Track your accomplishments against these goals, and build a ‘case' for your promotion like a case lawyer would .