I'm an SW Dev manager who still strongly identifies as a developer and the thing I see people miss all the time is that while you don't have to become a manager

I'm an SW Dev manager who still strongly identifies as a developer and the thing I see people miss all the time is that while you don't have to become a manager you don't have a choice about becoming a leader if you want to move up. I'd also argue technical leadership is much harder as you don't have the hierarchy as your ultimate hammer; you need to earn and learn authority the hard way. You want to focus on the code and still guide the organization? Figure out the leverage to increase your sphere of influence; you'll never get there focusing on the individual.