[collyw]

I work with 10 * 1 year guys at work - my team leader. I know more languages than him, and I still write better SQL than him (one of the things he does know). Making an effort to learn something new doesn't stop you specialising in other areas. Also sticking to a one set of technologies doesn't mean you will automatically get good at them.

[csmdev]

Did you stop and think why he is the team leader and not you? Maybe having a deeper understanding of something is more important than playing with multiple things at once.

Always switching technologies will get you only basic knowledge in each of them. Going past the surface requires daily use and years of constant evolution. That's how you become an expert in something. Deeper understanding. Not broader.

[collyw]

He was in the right place at the right time and got lucky. Not through any competence.

Always switching technologies won't get you in depth knowledge, but it will show you different, possibly better approaches. I would say a bit of both experience, as well as learning new ways of doing things helps.

I learned Java at university. Inheritance and Polymorhpism were like black boxes until I learned Perl afterwards, and the mechanisms are there in front of you (OOP in Perl is a bit of a hack, but it makes it transparent how it works). That (and other features of Perl) helped my understanding of Java.

[johnnyfaehell]

Being a good team leader and being a good developer aren't the same thing. You can be an amazing team leader but suck at being a developer. There are a lot of team leads that are team leads just because they got there first. I've seen one who struggled at basic problem solving.

However I get what you mean. The guy does seem to be a bit up himself.

[collyw]

Agreed, but he isn't good at that either!