Great Post!! I started from the trenches too - got opportunities to be a manager, tried one job at that and went back to my 'trenches' - it is not for me, as Andy said i can't let go of technology totally, i hate micro managing people, and above all - i loathe the corporate dishonesty/selfishness and politics that a manager has to deal with. In the asian culture i was raised corporations had their politics but had some principles to abide by in addition to that - people were not fired unless they were completely unsuited to their jobs, and profits were shared equally among employees. With those values missing in corporate america i dont believe the ladder is worth climbing. I also believe it is somewhat of a misconception that the only route a DBA gets to take is be a manager or stay where you are - there are technically senior positions, a great example is Brent Ozar's title 'SQL Server Expert'. I'd like to be one and leave the politics to those who can do it well.