Leadership and the IC career path

🚀 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 “𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀” 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗔 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺

Last month, something happened in my engineering team that reminded me how important it is to define success on your own terms — not by what others believe is the “right” path.

For years, John De la pava Peña had been a manager. Like many, he assumed that climbing toward management was the only sign of progress. But after inviting David Zearing and Kevin Brown , two of the most successful and impactful ICs I know to my Engineering allhands, something clicked for John. IC success story showed that the IC path isn’t a step down — it’s a different kind of leadership, often with even greater technical and organizational impact.

John and I had an honest conversation. We explored where he feels most energized, where he delivers the most value, and what kind of work makes him proud at the end of the day. The answer was clear: the IC track was his real path to success.

Yes — it meant extra work for me to restructure the org.

Yes — it meant challenging the conventional “manager = success” mindset.

But I gladly willing to help because, our role is to 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀.

And the results? Immediate. And inspiring.

Over Thanksgiving week (Thanksgiving is not a holiday for John), a tricky cross-team problem came up — the kind with unclear ownership, the kind that usually sits in limbo while teams sort out “who should handle it.” Instead of letting it stall, John time-boxed the investigation, solved the issue end-to-end, and surprised the entire team when we returned. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆-𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗖 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.

✨ Key Learnings That I would like to Share

🔹 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲 — 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

Everyone has a different path. The “manager track” isn’t inherently better than the “IC track.” What matters is finding where your strengths and passions intersect.

🔹 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀.

Supporting people means helping them discover their best path — even if it means more work for you, even if it challenges norms, even if it means redesigning a team.

🔹 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝗖𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀.

A pragmatic architect/IC who can operate beyond team boundaries can unlock speed, clarity, and innovation in ways no org chart can.

Huge appreciation to David Zearing and Kevin Brown for inspiring our team with your authenticity and impact.

And major kudos to John De la pava Peña for the courage to redesign his own career — and for showing what true ownership and impact looks like.

Sometimes the most powerful transformations happen when we simply give people permission to be who they are meant to be.