I can't be sure that my path to relative success will work for everyone, so take my tips with a pinch of salt. I find though that the steps I've taken below have made me a valuable team member that continues to be sought after for years at a time with teams I have and continue to work with...
1. Learn to drop your ego. This is one of the single biggest things that change the dynamic of your interactions with those around you. It will change the quality of every relationship you have for the better. It will make you more approachable. It will make people want to include you, confide in you and will help them trust you.
2. Meaningful interaction with your peers. Learn to understand things from the point of view of others, and I don't mean just those that think and believe the same as you. I mean those that in some cases think and believe the exact opposite. Become someone valuable to others. Someone they can rely on. Someone they will not go to battle without, and someone they will not leave behind in a firefight. This takes time and effort. Do what you say you're going to do. Be there when you say you're going to be there. Say you're going to be there. Show up. Like Othello, this one you can learn the principles in 10 minutes, but it takes a lifetime to master and takes conscious discipline every day. But like compound interest, it adds up exponentially.
3. Learn to be seen in a way that people respect. People tend to respect those that grant them respect. Don't let their respect or any resulting admiration give you a big head. Your greatest value is being there to serve others.
These were the most difficult ones but are the ones that will catapult your relationships forward. Relationships are the key to your success. I believe they're the key to all of our successes. They're the difference between making it because of sheer dumb luck, and making it because you made a difference to those that have the power to drag you forward and effect positive change in your life. The fun thing about these points is they're all free and you can do them whether you're homeless living on the streets with no money or already earning millions of dollars a year.
... next up, some tangible skills that are valuable... these are likely to cost some money, so unfortunately, they're pretty inaccessible to those that don't have access to resources that will allow them to learn.
4. Right now the market is making a steady and urgent march towards AI and machine learning. If you're not already aware of it, get on board. Maintain discipline enough to learn something every day capitalizing on what you learned yesterday, even if it's the tiniest steps. The few people you can't automate out of a job are the ones that are building the automation and work in areas that benefit the march towards automating all the things. You don't need to learn AI specifically, this is but one niche. Take a look at market trends more than specific things. Especially in our industry tools go in and out of vogue overnight. But trends stick around for the longer haul. The trend towards cloud computing, the trend towards machine learning, the trend towards what will come after which will be related to the problems we cause today developing things we're not capable of fully comprehending until it's too late - which is a trend humanity has proven we fail at since the dawn of time.
5. Learn to apply your skills with massive growth and scalability. Learn how to execute, predictably and reliably. This is what will earn you a great reputation that you can build on for your entire career.
6. Now you've built all that up, if you've done everything right along the way, you're now in the perfect spot to do it all for yourself and earn a billion dollars.
I presently sit between 5 and 6 and hope that my journey into building my own company will allow me to use what I have learned in my career to help drive those behind me forward.
I know Kevin Spacey may not be the greatest role model, all things considered, but he did say one thing that stuck with me.
"If you're lucky enough to do well, it is your responsibility to send the elevator back down."