One of the most undervalued skills in engineering is knowing how to be the glue. This is how I transitioned from engineer to product manager.

Like noticing when other people in the team are blocked and helping them out. Or reviewing design documents and noticing what’s being handwaved or what’s inconsistent. Or onboarding the new people and making them productive faster. Or improving processes to make customers happy.

Check out this blog post  for some very valuable thoughts on the importance of these soft skills, Being Glue.

In a similar vein is this blog post, Why Women Volunteer for Tasks That Don’t Lead to Promotions. But I think the Harvard Business Review misses the point. They call many of these soft skills, Non-promotable Tasks.

Workers who spend more time on non-promotable tasks are held back from demonstrating their full potential.

If something needs to be done and benefits the organization, then it has value.