At some point in your career, someone will ask you:
“So… are you going to stay technical, or go into leadership?”
And honestly? It can feel like a trap.
You’ve spent years learning to code. You’ve built cool stuff. Maybe mentored a junior or led a feature or two. And now you’re supposed to pick one direction? Like it’s a train you can’t get off?
Here’s what I’ve learned: You don’t have to choose right away. But it’s worth thinking about. Not to lock yourself into a path, but to steer your growth in a direction that fits who you are today.
Let’s explore the fork in the road: technical vs. people leadership. And everything in between.
The Technical Path
Some devs just know: They love solving complex problems. They light up when diving into architecture, performance, or design systems. They’re the go-to person when no one else has the answer.
If that’s you, awesome!
You might grow into a staff engineer, principal developer, or architect. Not just writing code, but raising the quality of the whole system.
What this path looks like:
- Deep dives into tech strategy and architecture
- Leading code reviews and design discussions
- Experimenting with new tooling
- Mentoring through code, not management
- Protecting technical excellence, even when deadlines loom
When it fits:
- You care deeply about maintainability, performance, and clean design
- You get energy from solving hard problems
- You’d rather talk design patterns than people problems
This is leadership! Just through technical influence instead of team management.
The People Path
Others (like me) discover a different kind of joy: Helping teammates grow. Creating clarity. Making the team better, not just the code.
The first time I really helped someone wasn’t by fixing their bug, but by explaining the concept behind it. That’s when something clicked.
People leadership is about creating the conditions for others to do great work.
What this path looks like:
- Facilitating team rituals and retros
- Mentoring and coaching juniors
- Talking with stakeholders and translating chaos into clarity
- Giving feedback, removing blockers
- Taking ownership and making sure things get done
You might grow into a team lead, engineering manager, or even CTO someday.
When it fits:
- You enjoy seeing others grow
- You’re interested in how product, process, and people intersect
- You like connecting the dots more than writing every line
For me, the code didn’t disappear. It just became one of many tools I use and not the only one.
False Myths, Real Choices
Let’s bust a few myths I’ve heard (and believed):
“If I want to grow, I have to manage people.” Nope. Staff roles offer serious growth, pay, and impact (even without people management).
“Once I choose a path, I’m stuck.” Definitely not. Careers are long. You can pivot. You can blend. You can evolve.
How I Chose (And Why I Still Experiment)
As a junior, the path was clear: Become a medior. Then a senior.
But after that? I didn’t know.
I liked mentoring. I liked writing docs. I liked owning features. So I started trying things: leading retros, supporting juniors, talking to stakeholders.
Over time, I realized: What gave me energy wasn’t just writing code. It was helping others do great work and making the whole system better.
That’s when I leaned in. Not because someone promoted me, but because I started acting like a lead.
Leadership is not a title. It’s what you do.
A Few Questions to Reflect On
If you’re at that fork in the road (or getting close), try asking yourself:
- What kind of developer do I want to become?
- When do I feel most in flow: deep in code or helping others?
- Where do I bring the most value to my team right now?
- Do I feel energized or drained by mentoring and leading discussions?
- Is there room to grow in my current role? If not, what can I suggest?
You don’t need to have all the answers. You just need to stay curious.
When Growth Isn’t Handed to You
Here’s the hard part: Not every company helps you figure this out.
Sometimes you’re just…stuck. Repeating the same tasks. No one asking where you want to go.
I’ve been there.
Here’s what helped me when I felt like I’d hit a ceiling:
Pick a growth theme. Choose something to go deep on: testing, animations, DX, accessibility. Apply it in small ways.
Suggest a value-adding initiative. Tie your learning to business value. Performance? Dev experience? Faster handoff?
Be visible. Share what you’re learning. Demo your findings. Onboard a junior.
Use side projects as your lab. Stretch yourself outside of work if you need to, but please be mindful of the time invested and not burning out!
Start the conversation. Talk to your lead: “I’d love to grow in [X], is there room for that here?”
And if nothing changes… move. Seriously. You deserve a place that supports your growth, not just your output.
Final Thoughts
You don’t have to have it all figured out. But you do have to stay honest with yourself. The technical path is deep. The people path is wide. You can walk both, or switch later.
Just keep asking:
- What gives me energy?
- What impact do I want to have?
And remember: Your next step doesn’t have to be permanent. It just has to be yours.
💬 I’d love to hear your story. Are you leaning toward tech, people, or still exploring? What helped you decide? What are you struggling with right now?
In case you want more guidance: I'm now offering free 30-minute coaching calls for developers who want to grow (whether you're junior, medior, or senior). In this call, we’ll talk about your current situation, challenges you're facing, and where you want to go next. You'll receive tailored advice specific to your goals and concrete next steps. No catch. Just me, helping you grow.
👉 Book your free call here: https://calendly.com/tim-lorent/free-30-minute-growth-call-for-developers
Or if you’re ready to take the next step: check out my book From Hello World to Team Lead or the developer platform for career growth Campfires.dev. 20% of all revenue from the book and coaching will be donated to tech charities like TechMeUp, SheSharp, GirlCode, HackYourFuture.
Top comments (21)
Great post
Thanks @ben ! Really appreciate it, hope it gave you some value!
The community appreciates thoughtful perspective
This really hit home - I've always found myself flipping between loving deep tech work and wanting to support the people around me. Curious, do you find your 'energy source' shifts over time, or does it stay steady for you?
Thanks for joining the discussion @dotallio and your great question! It indeed shifts for me, because sometimes I just want to dive deep into the technical side, go into full-nerd mode and code stuff like window and tab synchronization with the Broadcast Channel API, while other times I want to put the code aside completely and have a meaningful conversation with another developer. I try to seek this balance by doing things like the Free Developer Growth Call and working on freelance assignments.
How do you approach this?
I struggle with it myself as well. being technical oriented, still figuring it out!
You're doing well on "explaining the concept behind it" in this post, hahaha...
As a former team leader, I enjoyed helping others grow. It made me feel accomplished when things were well-organized. However, I quit my job - there is no long-term solution when the environment does not change.
You're right, be honest, whatever I choose to do.
I‘m now an independent marketer for Poindeo, a free online tool for helping create demo videos for products, educational content, etc. Every time I receive genuine feedback from users, I feel that what I'm doing now is truly meaningful. I'm now gradually rediscovering the original learning passion to overcome new difficulties. It makes me go ahead.
Sounds like you made the right decision @nicole_smith ! Indeed quit if there is no long-term solution in sight, you truly deserve better. Glad to hear that you found a new place where you fit and where you are challenged and have found meaningful work - these pillars really make for great work!
Lovely post! It came in the right time. I got asked this question by my CTO just last week and I happily chose the more technical path, for me I enjoy coding more than having to manage a team of people, and I would love to lead a team on a feature or a project but from the technical side of things, but I'd say this maybe it's good advice, it's great to be good at different things like being able to provide feedback and direction outside the view of just code and more into the concept level, and being able to coach other team members like juniors or basically provide guidance beyond pure-code.
Thanks @rasheedmozaffar , I'm glad it helped you! It sounds like you choose the right path and that you have a clear sense of direction, congrats! I like your suggestions, it's indeed good to always be able to help out on other levels. But it's totally fine to go for a more technical approach than a people approach as your main focus. Keep up the good work!
To be honest, this question is something I had never thought about, but in fact, I made a decision.
Let's say I'm focusing on my technical path. Sooner or later, I will teach new members of my team. I'm not talking about mentoring, but any kind of advice, help and assistance to dive into the workflow. You've noticed 100% correctly this point. As people's paths should be evaluated as well. From the experience I have, the success of a project relies on the communication of the team. We can mention here every department, to be honest.
Even when you're deciding to choose one path only, you never know. I have a real-life example: during some position switches at my close friend's company, he was chosen as a lead. Not only because of his knowledge and expertise, but also because of knowing everything about the project. This is when he started onboarding newcomers and helping other members.
Thank you for sharing this story; it's an important thing.
You're welcome @vadym_info_polus and thanks for joining the discussion and sharing examples! Your friend sounds like someone who already shows leadership without asking for it and they are often the best leaders!
Love how honest this is - figuring out my own path too and this kinda helps, so thanks for sharing
Thanks @nevodavid ! You're welcome, glad it helps. I want to keep sharing content like this and hopefully became a helpful guide to a lot of developers who need assistance with their career.
I totally agree with you. The importance of team communication can’t be overstated—it truly is the foundation of any project’s success. Helping new team members, guiding them, and sharing knowledge builds not only technical growth but also trust within the team. I love the example you shared about your friend stepping up as a lead—not just for expertise, but for knowing the whole picture and being able to onboard others effectively.
On a side note, for anyone planning a quick breakfast before their workday, I found this great resource with the wawa breakfast menu. It’s super handy for planning those early morning team meetings!
Hi everyone! Thanks for the overwhelming and positive response to my article, I truly appreciate it. I hope it provides value for you and it helps you get unstuck.
Because this topic resonates with so many people, I decided to turn it into a series. You can find the first article here: dev.to/tlorent/choosing-your-devel....
Hope to see you there!
I'm definitely not a people person, but I don't think I can survive in a team without an effective team leaders like you!
@anvilicious thanks, that means a lot! In the end we need a strong combination of developers with both technical and people skills. That's how we form the best teams!
A mindful article for those who are still struggling to choose a career path in the IT industry. Thanks
You're welcome @kc900201 and thanks for the compliment! I really hope it helps people with their career. Always here to help if you have any questions about this topic!
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