My point was that most corporations remove the option from high level individual contributors. The higher you go, the more the option is removed. I was directly told that I am more than qualified from a technical perspective to be a Director, but not qualified from an management perspective.
Teaching people management skills is probably a whole heck of a lot easier than teaching them technical skills, but companies don't see it that way. Companies will pay top dollar for a fresh Harvard MBA, and put them in-charge of a large technology thing they know little about, but reject the idea of a IC8 moving into that role.
Why wouldn't they allow an IC8 to move into a lower-level management position? It sounds like the option isn't removed, you just have to move downwards on the parallel track, to learn those things.
Imagine it the other way around; I would not expect the head of HR at my employer to move directly into a Staff Engineering position if they expressed interest in moving towards a technical role.
Teaching people management skills is probably a whole heck of a lot easier than teaching them technical skills, but companies don't see it that way. Companies will pay top dollar for a fresh Harvard MBA, and put them in-charge of a large technology thing they know little about, but reject the idea of a IC8 moving into that role.