[tomca32]

It's not, at least not from my experience, but you have to be vocal about what you want.

I was offered a managerial position multiple times and declined it every time saying that it would be a loss for both myself and the company. I'm way more useful in an individual contributor role and a better way to leverage my experience would be to be a cross-team IC and help on the more demanding projects/initiatives.

Eventually, after being vocal about it for a while and actively helping other teams with parts of the system they didn't have experience with, that's what I got. The bad part is that most challenging work often ends up in my lap. The good part is that most challenging work ends up in my lap.

[sarkhan]

Eeh, at some point, a nepotic Manager will move resources around in a way that an IC (should be manager) will be banging head on the railing with a question why am I not calling the shots.

[spydum]

and often thats when you know it's time to look for a new manager (inside or outside). Most folks with competency to solve hard problems have options