Expert, not monkey
If you're tired of being the smartest person nobody listens to, this is for you
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Been thinking about joining? Now’s the moment.You ever wonder why the person leading the initiative isn’t the one who actually understands how the system works?
You sit in silence while someone with three months of context explains your pipeline like they built it. They talk about “data strategy” while you’re still cleaning up their broken metrics.
Then the meeting ends, and guess who’s rewriting the dashboard? You.
Not because you’re not smart. Not because you’re not capable. But because you’re invisible.
If no one hears your ideas, your expertise doesn’t exist.
Data engineers stay stuck, not for lack of skill, but because they wait for permission that never comes. This post is your permission.
Let’s talk about becoming a knowledge leader. Without a title, without waiting, and without playing politics.
What is a knowledge leader?
You don’t need a fancy title. You don’t need to manage people. And you don’t even need to speak in meetings… At first.
But you do need to be the person who knows their shit.
That means knowing your stack inside out. Knowing the project history. Knowing the context, not just your ticket, but what it’s connected to. Why it matters. Who’s depending on it. What happens if it fails.
Knowledge leaders are the ones other people go to when things get messy. When a system breaks and nobody knows why.
When a decision needs to be made and everyone’s guessing. You’re the person who cuts through the noise.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a contractor, an IC, or buried three layers deep in a 5,000-person org. If you’re the one people trust for clear answers, you’re leading.
But here’s the trap: being that person isn’t enough.
Too many sharp engineers hit this point and stall. They know everything. They solve everything. And still, no influence. No recognition. No raise. Why?
Being quietly competent isn’t leadership. It’s labor.
A knowledge leader doesn’t just know more. They share more. They write docs that others reference. They send the message that unlocks a stuck thread. They pitch ideas that change the scope of a project.
They don’t wait to be asked. They show up like someone worth listening to.
Why most data engineers stay invisible
Here’s what happens. You put your head down. You do the work. You make it bulletproof. You think, “If I just keep delivering, someone will notice.”
Nobody does.
Because hard work doesn’t speak. Only humans do.
Most mid-level engineers stall here. They obsess over clean code, stable pipelines, and clever queries. All of it matters. But none of it guarantees visibility.
Because you’ve trained your team and your org to treat you like a code monkey: quiet, reliable, and replaceable.
They don’t loop you into planning.
They don’t ask what’s possible.
They don’t even know you’re thinking about it.
And that’s the real issue: you are thinking about it.
You’ve got ideas for how to reuse the logic you built last quarter. You’ve spotted three ways to improve reporting across teams. You’ve seen the same broken process wreck your timelines five times.
But you keep it to yourself. You assume
“This isn’t my job.”
Y*“Nobody cares what I think.”*
“I’ll speak up once I’m more senior.”
That mindset is why your influence is capped. That mindset is why someone else leads the conversation. That mindset is how you stay stuck.
You’re not quiet because you’re junior. You’re junior because you’re quiet.
The 3 habits that make you a knowledge leader
You don’t need to beg for influence. You need to show receipts. These three habits work anywhere. Even inside the most outdated, top-down, IT-gated legacy org on Earth.
They cost zero permission. You can start today.
1. Write docs that tell a story
Stop writing technical vomit no one reads. Start writing clarity.
A good doc doesn’t just say what you built. It explains why it matters, what changes next, and how others can build on top of it.
Use structure. Use headings. Use AI if you want (hell, I posted the exact prompt and format I use. Go get it). Just stop shipping context-free notes that look like an error log.
Every doc is a signal. Done well, it says: “I’m not just executing. I’m thinking ahead.”
That’s leadership.
2. Share your ideas even if they’re not perfect
You’ve seen something broken. You’ve got an idea to fix it. You even know who it would help.
But you don’t say it.
Because it’s not polished. Because it might not work. Because you don’t want to sound stupid.
Here’s the truth: the people shaping strategy are rarely the smartest ones in the room. They’re the ones willing to say something first.
And yes, being a leader often means you need to make decisions with 70% of the info.
So here’s what I need you to do: start a note. Park the idea. Flesh it out over a few days. Then share it with your manager or someone who gives a shit.
Not as a rant. Not as a complaint. But as a draft strategy:
Here’s the problem
Here’s what I’m seeing from the ground
Here’s a simple change that might help
Here’s what we could unlock if it works
Even if it goes nowhere, they remember you brought something real to the table.
3. Ask bigger questions on every project
Every time you touch a new request, stop and ask:
What’s this actually for?
What’s the next step after this gets delivered?
How does this help the business win?
Then, ask this one:
How could we do this better long-term?
Your job is not to tick boxes. Your job is to spot leverage. That’s what real experts do.
Even if you don’t have the answer yet, asking the question changes how you’re seen.
Suddenly, you’re not a ticket-taker. You’re a systems thinker. A force multiplier. A knowledge leader.
Be the expert, not the monkey
Nobody’s coming to rescue your career.
If you’re waiting for someone to notice how hard you’re working, you’re gonna wait a long time.
The pipeline you refactored last quarter? The dashboard you rebuilt in a weekend? The analysis that saved the launch?
It doesn’t matter unless someone knows.
Being excellent in silence doesn’t make you a leader. It makes you a ghost.
And you weren’t hired to be a ghost. You were hired because you’re sharp. Because you see things others miss. Because you’ve got more to offer than just your fingers on a keyboard.
So act like it.
Stop pretending your job ends with code. Start owning your context. Start writing. Start proposing. Start sending the damn Slack message. One note. One doc. One conversation.
That’s all it takes to shift how people see you.
Because the difference between the expert and the monkey isn’t skill. It’s voice.
Use yours.
Thanks for reading,
Yordan
PS: If this sounds like you and you’re ready to move faster, join Data Gibberish Pro. It’s where data engineers learn to lead, earn more, and build systems that actually matter. Become a paid subscriber.