I can say objectively that I was listed as one of six or seven key people in our acquisition and have been one of the two most important people in our integration/migrations since then. I’m certain there are people who could do better than me, but within a non-theoretical reality and being responsible for our application development, that is a decent indicator that I’m a valuable member of the team.

Subjectively, I’m not the programmer’s programmer or a great PM, but needing to serve both of those roles has given me a perspective that allows me to identify value in projects where two people in segmented roles would not. Being able to squeeze another 100% of value with 5% of work every once in a while is a good feeling.

I’m not so arrogant to say that I’m a top tier person, but I hope this answers the question without saying so. I also want to say that I wouldn’t be able to do the things I could do without fantastic business and operational teammates. It makes it all the more frustrating when I see duds in the same role who I know are making more money than great contributors.