Santosh Yadav: How to level up your career, health, and life

Links

- CodeCrafters (partner): https://codecrafters.io/

- Santosh's website: https://santoshyadav.dev/

- Santosh on X: https://x.com/santoshyadavdev

- "My Journey to Staff Engineer" by Santosh: https://www.santoshyadav.dev/blog/2025-03-29-my-journey-to-staff-engineer/

- The Staff Engineer's Path: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/the-staff-engineers/9781098118723/

Previous episode with Santosh

- Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/santosh-yadav-how-open-source-changes-lives-angular/id1731855333?i=1000664702562&l=pt-BR

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1qjaz4PCxEMwUKP2IyBSBv?si=d338dd633c764939

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqlBFtg8EtU

Summary

Santhosh Yadav discusses his promotion to Staff Engineer at Celonis, contrasting it with his previous experiences of leaving jobs rather than being promoted. He emphasizes that management is a "side step" not a "step up" from an Individual Contributor (IC) role.

The conversation moves into why engineers often leave jobs after two years, the importance of finding fulfilling work, and how a colleague's comment ("planted the seed") and the book "Staff Engineer's Path" helped him pursue the promotion.

A significant portion covers Santhosh's personal health journey after a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis, which led him to prioritize health, drop conference speaking, and take up running. He shares his progress from struggling with 3km to completing a half marathon, emphasizing listening to his body, proper gear, rest, and not comparing himself to others. This inspired him to launch devswhorun.dev to motivate other developers.

Other topics include:

- The value of validation and good managers.

- Dealing with toxic work environments (advice: leave).

- Productivity while working from home.

- His podcast "This is Tech Talks" and interest in home automation.

The core message: cherish what you have and the importance of health for sustainable impact.

Chapters

00:00:00 Santosh Yadav

00:04:31 Introduction and Guest Welcome

00:05:31 Career Progression and Promotion Journey

00:11:36 The Importance of Staying in One Place

00:15:21 Understanding Solonis and Its Impact

00:19:29 The Role of a Staff Engineer

00:24:29 The Value of Validation in Career Growth

00:31:31 Balancing Health and Career

00:39:44 Conclusion and Future Aspirations

00:40:39 Fitness Journey and Personal Records

00:41:31 The Impact of Niceness on Management

00:45:25 Transforming Toxicity into Calmness

00:50:25 Building Connections Beyond Work

00:52:55 The Importance of Compassion in the Workplace

00:54:39 Work from Home vs. Office Productivity

00:57:59 Exploring AI and Home Automation

01:07:37 The Evolution of Angular and Personal Health Journey

01:10:11 Health Transformation and Running a Half Marathon

01:16:38 The Journey of Personal Growth Through Running

01:20:23 Understanding the Importance of Recovery and Rest

01:22:32 Choosing the Right Gear for Running

01:25:12 Leveraging Technology for Training and Recovery

01:33:36 Community Building Through Shared Experiences

01:36:16 Transforming Personal Challenges into Community Impact

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