Alright, let's kick back and dive a bit deeper into the wild rollercoaster that is the journey from tech guru to the guy calling the shots. I've been in the IT circus for a whopping 16 years, starting when I was practically a kid at 17. Worked on more websites than I can count, shuffled through different clients and companies, learned more programming languages than I have fingers, and now, here I am, playing the leadership game in product-focused companies with bigger teams than I ever thought I'd handle.

So, the million-dollar question: How technical do you want to be as a leader? Well, my friend, that depends on you. Are you burnt out, sick of learning new things, and have you managed to climb a bit? If so, then yeah, maybe it's time to level up on the leadership and soft skills and gradually phase out the nitty-gritty tech stuff. Your first job might have been 60% technical, but a few years down the line, you could be rocking a 0% technical role that only requires you to have a solid software engineering background and a good grasp of the tech jargon.

Now, if you're anything like me, and you still get a kick out of coding, then why not, right? Learning new things isn't a chore; it's a thrill. I'm all about diving into something fresh, understanding the backstory, the pain points, and why the heck someone decided to create this new tool or tech. Connecting the dots to a new language or a tech trend becomes a breeze when you've been around the block a few times.

Certifications? Eh, not my cup of tea. I bagged some Microsoft ones back in 2007, and guess what? They're collecting dust. For someone who's been hands-on, I don't see the point of waving around two AWS certificates when I've got a solid five years of professional experience wrestling with it. Certs might be the golden ticket to get your foot in the door, but after that, it's more about what you've done than the paper you're holding.

Here's the kicker, though. Companies, in their race against time, often let HR do the heavy lifting in resume scanning. They're like, "Do you know GoLang?" You might be the PHP, JavaScript, TypeScript, and DevOps wizard with over a decade of experience, but if GoLang isn't in your resume, you might as well be invisible to them. It's a head-scratcher, right?

So, what's the game plan? First off, decide if you still want to be the tech whiz. If yes, then keep your skills sharp, be ready to jump into the coding trenches, and maybe score that Senior or Principal Engineer title. Second, throw in a bit of everything in your skill set. Practice different languages, work on small projects to showcase your interest, and toss those keywords into your resume. It's like a secret code for HR to know you're not just a one-trick pony.

In a world obsessed with keywords and buzzwords, it's all about playing the game while staying true to what you love. Whether you're leaning towards becoming the tech sage or the leadership maestro, the key is to keep evolving, keep learning, and, most importantly, keep enjoying the ride. Cheers to the tech journey, my friend!