Our industry is not the best at preparing developers to grow their careers when they reach the critical point when they have to decide between continuing to work as an individual contributor or moving into management. Stories of great developers being nearly forced into management are all too common, and developers that want to become managers aren’t given the proper guidance on that transition.
For those that follow what turns out to be the wrong path for them, they may feel the only way to switch paths is to switch companies, which is a loss for both the company and the developer.
As technical leads and managers, it is our duty to mentor developers as they approach this point in their career. This talk will help you to guide that conversation with insight from someone who has had first-hand experience on both paths.
