I decided early on to stay on the technical track. I had mentors who sampled the management waters and explained the pros and cons. For me, a long-term techni

I decided early on to stay on the technical track. I had mentors who sampled the management waters and explained the pros and cons. For me, a long-term technical track was the better choice. If you stay technical, work on 'building the brand' and team-building skills. You can't be the 'super tech' worth the huge paycheck-- nobody is that good. Period. It's the team builders that get big things done. So write some Call for Papers submissions, work on giving great technical presentations, and look for any way to add value to your projects. (Many of these will involve gathering and rendering metrics. Look for valuable metrics nobody is reporting!) Good Luck. As you grow out of the 'IC' role, you will have to find new ways to get job satisfaction. They are out there-- just different than 'working code' all the time.