Don't grind on something the company doesn't value. Hard work is not rewarded. **_Outcomes_** are rewarded.

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Hard work alone doesn't lead to career advancement in engineering. The most valuable engineers identify and fix systemic gaps, build what's needed before it's requested, and create tools that multiply team effectiveness. However, this critical work often goes unnoticed under poor management. Success requires focusing on outcomes the company values, proactively documenting achievements before performance reviews, and ensuring alignment between your contributions and organizational goals. At senior levels, finding and fixing gaps becomes an explicit part of the job description.

The grind won't get you there

I’d like to emphasise the “poor management” part.
In my humble experience, I have seen very talented and often very not yet fleshed out early stage sprouts, which have the potential to become high performing individuals, yet the management neither sees it nor does it support them to get on this way.
Many do not even realise, how much they can do, which is why I usually just tell people straight up, how much they are actually able to do and accomplish &amp; most importantly keep learning and improving.
If you want people to improve, you have to give them the space to do it. You have to give them responsibility, let them fail &amp; learn. Not berate them on small mistakes, which will not matter in the big picture.
The management people I’ve ever met in my life, who always complained about employees “below” them, were 100% always mostly at fault themselves. If you have one bad apple employee, fine. Two, fine. But if you complain about 90% of your workers, then it’s a systemic issue and as a manager, you are the system designer and/or executor.

The concept of OKRs is possibly the worst thing that has ever happened to the world of working.
Nice short think piece!