There are two career paths for software designers: the path to creative leadership and the path to executive leadership.

Which path is right for you? Let me outline some of the pros and cons of each:

As a “creative leader” you will drive design from the top and be expected to contribute directly yourself. You will have flexibility and you will be unencumbered by the management duties typical of high-ranking executives, freeing you to “create.” You will be expected to produce, to evangelize, and possibly to write or speak at conferences. However, while being seen as the “brains” behind design, you may also be somewhat dismissed by corporate executives as having very little “business” knowledge, and therefore very little input into corporate strategy and sometimes even product strategy.

As an “executive leader” you are expected to understand the business-side; market drivers, profit/loss, etc. and most importantly be skilled and effective in management — a task many up and comers are often shocked to find so difficult and taxing. The more people you manage, the less you contribute yourself. The executive leader enjoys a more standard position in the corporate power hierarchy and therefore will wield more strategic power and influence.

Creative and executive leaders hold varying titles depending on the company. Some examples include:

The choice of which path to follow can be difficult if you want to remain an individual contributor and focus on design, but also want to have strong political influence in product strategy and mix with the rest of the company’s executive team. There may be hybrid roles that combine these two to some degree, but I question their ultimate effectiveness.

So, ultimately the question you have to ask yourself is whether you want to create and lead through design, or build and design through leadership? Or, more simply, do you want to push yourself as a creative or push yourself as a business-leader?