There are no C-level individual contributors, really. At the head of an organization, is a manager/leader. Even the top level technical track folks who are nom

There are no C-level individual contributors, really. At the head of an organization, is a manager/leader. Even the top level technical track folks who are nominally IC's wind up doing some leadership. This makes sense; there's fundamentally a limit on how much you can accomplish all by yourself. Somewhere along the road, your visions will require the work of more people than only yourself. You can be a technical leader without being a manager, so it's not all bad.