The management types above you will never understand why you wouldn't want to move "up" the ladder to management. That's the way they're wired. If you're a tech

The management types above you will never understand why you wouldn't want to move "up" the ladder to management. That's the way they're wired. If you're a techie, you may never be able to think, talk, and act the way that they do. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can take the tech lead title and pay but keep coding. That's hugely frustrating. Read pg's essay Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule. You'll never have enough uninterrupted time during the day to be a maker, so you'll spend your days being a manager and nights trying to be a maker and do neither well. If you're going to be a tech lead, you need to drop coding and make a clean break to management.