Whatever specialized skills you excel at -- (1) hone them in at an A-list company. Then, (2) jump ship for a B-list company. It's important in (1) that you surround yourself with people with greater skill than you; these people will provide mentorship. In (2), You'll be the smartest person in the room. With less competition, it'll be easier for you to rise.
"How to Win Friends & Influence People" still stands as one of the most prolific books on this topic for decades...<p>Also, my company has weekly Lunch-N-Learns, I give 1-2 a year on various topics related to writing, testing and deploying software just like I would at a meetup group.