Comment Curiosity and Diversity, and Google. (Score 1) 298
Your most important asset is curiosity. Without that, you won't get very far. You also need a very diverse set of skills. That's pretty much how I got to where I am now, and I've been a Linux IT professional since 1998. Knowing your hardware, ability to build and deploy stable server systems with the right Linux distribution, and finally learning how Linux works and why. Just installing Ubuntu is not enough, you need to objectively pick the right tool for the right job. Some days its CentOS, other days its Ubuntu. Some days some animal entirely set apart from either. Jack of all trades, master of none. Running through a few builds of LFS will teach you far more than any distro will any day.
And if I have to be completely honest, being a search engine power user. Without being able to effectively use a search engine, and you'd be surprise how many people can't, you won't get very far at all.