The senior engineer death spiral

on proving yourself, burning out, and being a good teammate

(a friend recently got a new job, a very senior role, very well paid, and pretty different from his previous gig. he was asking me how to do a 60 to 80-hour week, how to do well enough to get promoted, etc. and as we talked, I realised he was feeling a bit of imposter syndrome and really wanted to prove himself. I ended up giving him a bit of a monologue. this is more or less what I told him.)