When I was toiling as a junior Unix Administrator (capitalized for fear of threats.....LOL), I remember thinking I had great ideas, but no audience.  I wanted to know what role could I aspire to  that represented technical expertise and seniority.  I enjoyed the systems work, but I wanted my opinions to matter more.  I wanted people to pay attention to what I thought and why I thought it.  I quickly learned from more senior engineers that what I wanted was to be "An Architect".....Cue Cheesy Superhero Music... 
   Of course I had no idea what an Architect did, nor did I know that there were differenct types of IT Architects (Enterprise, Technical, Application, System, etc.).  I was, however, clear about one thing.  IT Architects were relied on in many organizations to set strategy and to fill in the gap, often wide, between the lines of business and the numerous infrastructure technology groups.  What wasn't so obvious was the responsibility of the Architect to build relationships and fight the urge to dictate technology and shout from Ivory Towers too far removed from implemtation of the technology.
   What's not communicated enough to up and coming senior technologists is that as you become more senior, people are as much interested in what you think as they are in what you can do to enhance the IT organizations' capabilities.  If you cannot engage with the application teams, technology teams, and management, then you have much less value then you think.
   Remember that our job, ultimately, is to enable "the business" to do...............business, in a more efficient and dynamic way.  Nobody cares if you had a chief role in designing a really cool environment if there isn't anyone intersted in using it.
   That's my $.02.