What mattered
Understanding came before leadership.
Changes to an established international platform have to work with more than the code. They have to fit the architecture already in place, the way work is delivered and the organisations responsible for keeping the platform running.
Working within an agile team alongside business analysts, stakeholders and other developers, I began by helping to maintain and extend the legacy platforms. Through that work I developed detailed knowledge of two important subsystems, became a subject matter expert and gave presentations on those areas. That accumulated knowledge was why I was chosen to lead high-risk work in them.
Why I mention it
Responsibility was earned through system knowledge.
I worked on the platforms for three and a half years. During that time I progressed from maintenance and extension work to recognised subject expertise, presentations and responsibility for high-risk change.
If an important change to an established platform feels risky, I will start by understanding the system around the code. That is the engineering judgement I now bring to legacy-software investigation and modernisation.