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Comment by draw_down | Hacker News Reader

I have been told by people that I'm a "natural leader", perhaps not to the extent of the author. But I am just uninterested in all this stuff, I'd have to be paid double or something.

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I'm in the same boat. I've had management at a handful of companies discuss me taking on more than my Senior Developer role, for an extra $10-20k. That much stress does not warrant only a few years' worth of raises. Double my salary well above $150k+ (I'm not in the US) and I'd consider it. They'll have to pry my precious code from my cold, dead hands. I'm in my early 30s now; perhaps my preference will change as I approach my 40s, but for now I'd rather be a rock star in my field than be just another manager whose team hates him because he has no real control to change the company's politics.

Managing down is easy. Managing up is hard. How you go depends on the problems you want to tackle.

IMO manager = make more money but put in way more time. Meaning, deal with the questions from higher management, prepare all the various performance meetings, etc. Especially sudden highly important tasks are fun. Or announcements that happen on e.g. Monday and you get your information Friday late. This leading to having to review everything during the weekend.

It seems some people care more about the total salary than what they earn vs time invested.

PS: Regarding your team hating you: Decide for yourself how you manage. I prefer the honest types who just say "company decided and we just have to deal with it". If you start pretending you totally agree with things you'll not be able to give good answers to the various questions and people will think that you have no clue.

Choosing to take on management roles doesn't mean someone cares more about total salary than time earned. They probably just care more about team culture and mentorship.

I suspect common reasons for taking on a low-level management role include a) developer burn-out, time to move up and not have to code all the time; b) desire for more power (whether for egotistical reasons or in the hope of effecting positive change in a position of power); and c) a stepping stone to further levels of management where the salary upgrade actually becomes tangible.

I don't disdain competent developers who move up, I just personally don't understand it - yet. I imagine the time will come where I've had my fill of programming. Even if I don't burn out, I expect I will reach that age where I begin to feel that younger developers and management are dismissive of my abilities, and it will be the only escape into a role where I can earn back some respect. :)

The article is definitely describing an actual management role rather than a team lead role so that's not surprising.

A "natural leader" who doesn't really want it will often strike people as a great leader. I bet that when you get shoved into such a spot, you do your best to get it over with quickly and efficiently.

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