Build Your Credibility As You Grow
How I built my credibility at Google and Apple to get CEO visibility
👋 Hi, this is Akash with this week’s newsletter. I write about leadership and growth in software engineering. Thank you for your readership ❤️.
This week, I’m sharing how I repeatedly gained credibility at different levels working at Google and Apple. You will gain practical tips to apply and accelerate your growth. Hope you enjoy this edition!
When I joined Google, I used to question why any shiny work wouldn’t happen without getting an opinion from John. The same thing happened when I joined Apple.
In your company, do you know people who get pulled into high-stakes conversations?
Exponential growth happens when you become that person.
By the time I left Google, I was getting called out to do special projects assigned by the SVP.
Today, I will share how you can build your credibility at every level and become that person.
⭐ Main Takeaways
Strategies to gain the most credibility at each level (L3-L5)
Practical examples that you can implement in your job today
🎤 Announcement: Life update
Today, I quit. I have decided to leave Apple after a short tenure of 1.2 years. You folks are among the first to know. Recently, I shared my views on when it is the right time to leave, so I want to briefly explain my rationale.
When I left my dream job at Google to join Apple, I planned to get the coveted “10-year” trophy. Life had something else planned for me, and I got an opportunity I couldn’t pass on. More on that later.
Back to today’s topic! How I built credibility once again and left.
🐣 New Grad or L3
There’s no better time to build your credibility in an organization than when you’re new. At this level, expectations are limited. Your performance is judged on your delivery.
I joined a unicorn startup as a new grad. The first six months were brutal. A “senior” engineer scrutinized everything I did. It didn’t feel great, but I understand it better now.
At the time, we had many manual processes that I went on to automate in my spare time. By the end of the next six months, I automated one engineer’s grunt work. It earned my leadership's trust, and I was rewarded with ownership of the automation division.
Here’s my three takeaways for you:
Stay hungry: L3 engineers are full of energy. Take advantage of that and throw yourself at problems. If you can solve other’s pain points, you’ll get recognized.
Listen to team meetings to identify areas.
Ask your team leads where you can help.
Self-nominate: Every team has many small yet impactful work. Express interest and take them up.
Review your team’s backlog and identify “nice to have” items.
Come forward when someone is looking for assistance.
Be curious: The best way to earn trust is when you feel comfortable to ask questions.
Shadow a senior’s design patterns and coding practices.
Clarify tasks given to you and understand the context of the larger goals.
🏃♀️ Mid-level or L4
At this level, expectations start to grow. When I joined Google, I noticed that few individuals were involved in most decisions. I wanted to be like them; it gave me a sense of “importance” at the time.
As I was starting from zero, I was given an easy task. Even then, I struggled. Imposter syndrome started getting to me. I felt like I did not deserve the respect my fellow engineers had.
After spending some time and learning from folks across the org, I delivered my project six months early. But I didn’t stop there. I knew to get credibility, I had to do something beyond expectations.
I started collaborating with other teams and expanding my project’s scope, which led to me getting ownership. As I started delivering consistently, I became this area's “go-to” person. The next thing I knew, I was helping my teammates onboard to this project. By the time I got promoted to senior, I was already getting pulled in for different things.
If you’re in this situation, I’d suggest the following:
Take ownership: Work with your leader to identify an area you can own. Drive the project from start to finish. The most important thing here is never to drop a thing.
Look for opportunities for expanding scope, e.g., “How can others benefit from this work?”.
Pick up anything dropped on the floor, don’t complain, and take it to the finish line.
Assist your teammates: I got lucky because my team was expanding. If that’s not the case, expand the project and get buy-ins for more resources.
Align with the next level: L4 is not a terminal level for most companies. You’re expected to grow into a senior engineer. Align your expectations with L5, mainly when collaborating outside your team, which will help you gain visibility.
Find projects to collaborate with key ICs in your organization.
Become an expert on a specific area for your team.
🏋️♀️ Senior or L5
When you’re a senior engineer, you already have an established reputation. For me, this almost cost me my credibility. It’s easy to confuse trust with power.
When I first became a tech lead, I made many mistakes. These included picking fights without trying to understand, micromanaging deliverables for my team, and more. It wasn’t long before I realized something needed to change.
My transition from a “code machine” to a “senior engineer” was painful. The two most powerful lessons were:
Delegate: Instead of sitting on all parts of the projects, I started dividing and distributing ownership.
Create space for others to grow.
Scale yourself by delegating work and grow your impact.
Starting at the senior level, your output alone does not dictate your performance.
Clear Communication: The quality of your communication determines how others perceive you.
Invest in mastering concise communication.
❌ “The functionality of the module should be enhanced to provide increased flexibility and adaptability for the end user, with a focus on streamlining the overall workflow process and enhancing the overall user experience.”
✅ “We need to improve the module so it's easier to use and can handle a wider variety of tasks, making the user's workflow smoother.”
Be intentional with everything you say.
❌ “I think if we decide to make this change, our downstream systems might suffer.”
✅ “This change increases latency by 20%, breaking service X.”
🌟 🔍 Parting Thoughts
Credibility is a currency in the industry that will take you places. No matter where you’re in your career, invest heavily in this.
When I built an image as a reliable and trustworthy individual, I was called on to run projects with the highest visibility (Sunder Pichai, in one instance).
To recap, here’s what we talked about,
New Grad or L3
Stay hungry
Listen to team meetings to identify areas.
Ask your team leads where you can help.
Self-nominate
Review your team’s backlog and identify “nice to have” items.
Come forward when someone is looking for assistance.
Be curious
Shadow a senior’s coding practices.
Clarify tasks given to you and understand the context of the larger goals.
Mid-level or L4
Take ownership
“How can others benefit from this work?”.
Pick up anything dropped on the floor, don’t complain, and take it to the finish line.
Assist your teammates
Align with the next level
Find projects to collaborate with key ICs in your organization.
Become an expert on a specific area for your team.
Senior or L5
Delegate
Create space for others to grow.
Scale yourself by delegating work and grow your impact.
Clear Communication
Invest in mastering concise communication.
❌ “The functionality of the module should be enhanced to provide increased flexibility and adaptability for the end user, with a focus on streamlining the overall workflow process and enhancing the overall user experience.”
✅ “We need to improve the module so it's easier to use and can handle a wider variety of tasks, making the user's workflow smoother.”
Be intentional with everything you say.
❌ “I think if we decide to make this change, our downstream systems might suffer.”
✅ “This change increases latency by 20%, breaking service X.”
What has worked for you in building credibility in your current role?
Share them in the comments!
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👋 💬 Get In Touch
Want to chat? Find me on LinkedIn.
If you want me to cover a particular area of leadership, you can reach out directly to akash@chromium.org.
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Amazing article Akash. Love how this ties into the idea of "identity shift" when you are growing! Others need to say and believe that you're trustworthy and reliable and actions speak louder than words!
Good one.
Best of luck for future, waiting to hear whats next.