The adage of "It's who you know" applies in all industries, even tech. you are right, it's opinion based. Depending on the values of your team or organization the criteria for success will change.
My principal engineer values "The best possible solution" while I value delivery even if there are some short term tradeoffs. We are often at odds and since he's a level above me, he wins (generally speaking). Because he is a core feedback provider to my promotion I have a harder time getting the feedback I think I should as I'm expected to be his version of a principal engineer, and not mine.
As you move up the ladder it seems convincing people you are successful is more important that actually being successful.
My principal engineer values "The best possible solution" while I value delivery even if there are some short term tradeoffs. We are often at odds and since he's a level above me, he wins (generally speaking). Because he is a core feedback provider to my promotion I have a harder time getting the feedback I think I should as I'm expected to be his version of a principal engineer, and not mine.
As you move up the ladder it seems convincing people you are successful is more important that actually being successful.