In the next few weeks, I’ll explore with you how to choose a developer path: from technical deep dives to people leadership, and everything in between. Whether you’re at a fork in the road or just getting curious, this series is for you. Week 1 will be about exploring (experimentation, choosing a growth theme), Week 2 we'll focus on becoming visible and taking initiative, while the final week is about claiming growth (or moving away) and choosing your own path. Join me on this journey!
Create Your Own Reality
“I’m not sure if I want to be a Tech Lead or go deep into architecture.”
“I think I might like mentoring… but what if I’m terrible at it?”
Sound familiar?
Too often, we wait for the perfect career plan before taking any action. But most of the time? Action comes first. Clarity follows.
How I Found My Direction (Hint: I Didn’t Know It Yet)
- I led a refinement before I was “senior enough.”
- I mentored someone without formal training.
- I took ownership of a feature even though it scared me.
And each of those moments taught me something: not just about work, but about myself.
Did I love leading the retro? Kind of. Mentoring? Way more than expected (I absolutely love it). Owning a feature? That lit me up (ask anyone about Mr. Wishlist).
The Power of Micro-Experiments
You don’t have to overhaul your role to learn more about yourself.
Here’s how to explore, without risking your sanity:
- Mentor a junior dev for one sprint.
- Refactor a small legacy component and explain your thought process.
- Run a mini-workshop internally on a tool or topic you enjoy.
- Shadow your team lead during refinement or planning.
Each of these is a low-risk, high-learning experiment.
Ask the Right Questions
After you try something, ask yourself:
- What gave me energy?
- What drained me?
- Would I like to do more of this?
- What surprised me?
Your answers are data: use them.
Final Thought
You don’t have to pick your final destination today. You just have to stay curious enough to take the next step.
“Experiment first. Commit later.”
💬 What’s something small you’ve tried recently that gave you unexpected clarity?
In case you want more guidance: I'm now offering free 30-minute coaching calls for developers who want to grow (whether you're junior, medior, or senior). In this call, we’ll talk about your current situation, challenges you're facing, and where you want to go next. You'll receive tailored advice specific to your goals and concrete next steps. No catch. Just me, helping you grow.
👉 Book your free call here: https://calendly.com/tim-lorent/free-30-minute-growth-call-for-developers
Speaking of free guidance: download my Free Developer Growth Kit — 3 Practical Guides to Grow from Coder to Leader. It gives you practical tools to level up your skills, mindset, and workflow, without burning out or guessing your next step.
Or if you’re ready to take the next step: check out my book From Hello World to Team Lead or the developer platform for career growth Campfires.dev. 20% of all revenue from the book and coaching will be donated to tech charities like TechMeUp, SheSharp, GirlCode, HackYourFuture.
Top comments (10)
This is such a practical and thoughtful approach for anyone feeling uncertain about their next steps as a developer. I appreciate how you framed career growth as a process of exploring, experimenting, and gathering information about what really motivates and energizes us. Your personal stories help show it’s normal not to know everything upfront and that it’s okay—even beneficial—to try small experiments before making a big commitment. The idea of analyzing not just what we’re good at, but also what truly gives us energy, really stuck with me. I think a lot of people will find comfort and motivation in knowing they don’t have to have all the answers before moving forward. Looking forward to the rest of the series!
Thank you @chariebee ! Great to hear that you liked it and to hear your thoughts, this really motivates me to write a series like this. I truly believe that finding out what energizes you can help you move in the right direction. Stay tuned for more!
I "experimented" team lead position for 7 years, then reset back to development.
I couldn't give up the development tasks, so ended up doing work of 2, and almost burned out. Listen your body too.
@kimmoli absolutely and that's definitely solid advice. Thanks for joining the discussion! I also almost burned out when doing the job of team manager and a developer at the same time (was managing a team of 2-3 developers and fixing bugs).
How did you realize you wanted to move back to development?
Mostly it was the endless meetings that took time of the normal working hours. When you need to add 'lunch' to your calendar to have time to eat between meetings, should be alarm that something is wrong.
Took time to dig my step-down email from 2017, and it stated something like 'team lead role has been out of my comfort zone all the time', and that the 'The amount of work and responsibility exceeds my pain threshold'.
But simply, i just love development, mostly hardware, including VHDL, but sometimes sidetracks to programming in C, C#, tcl, pascal, python.
@kimmo_lindholm_4c698ff2c8 Oh I can definitely relate to that, haha. Somebody should have warned me about the increase in meetings when I became a team lead (although I could've seen that coming to be honest).
I really respect that you made the decision to switch back to development and listened to what energizes you. I think a lot of people are afraid to do that and stay in their routine. Inspiring to read!
Highly recommended!!Amazing !!
Thanks @instascraper !
Been cool seeing steady progress - it adds up. what do you think actually keeps things growing over time? habits? luck? just showing up?
Thanks @nathan_tarbert! Not sure if luck has anything to do with it and I don't believe in it either, haha. Habits and showing up, keep making progress and staying curious!