I have very little interest in becoming a manager, and when I have been pressed into team-leadership roles in the past I've found it uncomfortable and stressful

I have very little interest in becoming a manager, and when I have been pressed into team-leadership roles in the past I've found it uncomfortable and stressful. That said, I have come around to the view that because of the simple fact that any large engineering project must be a team effort, once one's ambitions become large enough, the ability to manage people is the only tool powerful enough to implement one's technical vision. I believe it was reading Joe Sutter's memoirs (Boeing 747 chief engineer) that really crystallized that view for me. In my own career, I am currently pursuing independent consulting as the "progression" of an individual contributor role. I believe this is fairly common, and I think there's kind of a mutual cause-and-effect going on there with the lack of good senior IC paths at many companies.