Something to readGetting ahead
Being Glue
An essay, written up from a conference talk, on the helpful work that holds teams together and why it can quietly stall a career
Why it’s worth your time
Being the person who keeps a team running isn't always the same as being the person who gets promoted. Tanya Reilly, a principal engineer when she wrote it, tells the story of an engineer whose onboarding, unblocking and coordinating made a launch possible, and who was then told her work wasn't technical enough. It explains how that happens and what both the person and their manager can do about it.
How to get credit for glue work
The essay · 22 min · Free
How to get it
Opens their site. We don’t copy it here; we’d rather they get the read.
- Read the essay.
It's the illustrated write-up of a conference talk, and the opening story is the part to sit with: a composite engineer who does the highest-impact work available and still misses the promotion. The four-step plan in the second half is where the practical advice lives.
- Write down your glue work, then ask how it counts.
List what you did this month that kept things moving but isn't your core job: onboarding, unblocking, notes, process fixes. Next to each, write what it made possible. Then ask your manager directly: does this count toward my next level, and if not, what would?
Good moments for this: before a promotion cyclewhen you're always the one who volunteerswhen you join a new team
Keep going with Truest
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- It actually happensWe’ll put it on your calendar and remind you before it starts.
- A living page in your VaultKeep it as one page you add to, next to your reviews and your files.
- It’s yours to keepEach thing you do is saved to your private record, there when your next review or job search comes around.
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Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
Reilly doesn't argue for giving it up for good. Her point is that it should be chosen deliberately, made visible and recognized, rather than drifting onto whoever notices the gap; stepping back from it for a while is her fallback only if it still isn't counted.
What might make this harder
Ask what's expected at the next level, in specifics, and agree on what you'll do differently this half. A vague 'keep it up' is a reason to get clearer, not to do more.
Questions people ask
What is glue work?
Tanya Reilly's term for the less visible work that makes a team succeed: onboarding, unblocking people, reviewing designs, coordinating with other teams and improving processes.
Is glue work bad for your career?
Not in itself. Reilly's concern is glue done too early in a career, or done where nobody recognizes it, which can stall a promotion.
How do I get credit for invisible work?
Keep evidence of what your work made possible, such as notes, proposals and outcomes, and ask your manager directly how it counts toward your next level. Reilly also suggests a title, like lead, that makes the work expected.
What it says, and how it holds up
Picture the person on your team who onboards the new hires, notices the project drifting the wrong way, untangles the email thread blocking a colleague, and writes the launch plan. Tanya Reilly, a software engineer who first gave this as a conference talk, follows that person through two years and then lets the promotion process answer: the colleagues she helped are promoted, and she's told her contribution wasn't technical. Nobody may tell you which kind of work is being counted.
Reilly doesn't make it a simple fairness story. She asks whether the engineer was really ready for the senior role and admits people disagree. What she's sure of is that the manager should have said something much sooner. From there she offers a plan: an honest career conversation, a title that makes the work expected, saved evidence of impact, and, if all else fails, temporarily dropping glue to do exactly what the job ladder rewards.
It's written from inside software, and some of its sharpest points are about engineering's narrow idea of what counts as technical. The core travels to any team with levels and a review cycle. Its advice to step back from helping is deliberately uncomfortable, and Reilly calls it cynical herself. Dropping glue has costs for the team and sometimes for relationships. Ladders also differ, so it's worth reading yours before assuming the worst.
Overload and recognition are separate problems. If you're doing glue on top of a full job and running out of hours, the more useful talk with your manager is about scope and priorities rather than promotion. And if nobody else on the team will do this work, that's a gap for your manager to fill, perhaps with a dedicated role, not something one person should absorb indefinitely.
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Picked by Truest and described in our own words. The original belongs to its creator. Last updated October 9, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.