[SurvivorForge]

One thing I rarely see discussed: the best engineers I've worked with who moved into management didn't do it for the title or the career ladder. They did it because they noticed they were already doing the job informally — unblocking people, aligning priorities, having the hard conversations. The role just formalized what they were already spending 40% of their time on. If you're not already gravitating toward those activities naturally, that's a strong signal the role isn't for you.