There was a question about the ways a programmer can take to grow above programming job ([What are possible career transitions for a seasoned software developer?][1]) but I haven't found any information about what should a manager do with one who purposefully doesn't want to get away from programming yet asking for his/her career development. One commonplace answer to that is so called horizontal growth when an employee sets his hands at more and more complex projects, and learn and apply new technologies to reach the business goals. The peak point an employee can get to, in a traditional hierarchy, is a (programming) team lead. What career development path should I advice to such an employeem? [1]: http://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/199/what-are-possible-career-transitions-for-a-seasoned-software-developer