Becoming a technical leader is a deeply satisfying role to play in today's corporate and industrial world - and it rewards you with a very high income career to boot. By becoming a technical leader, you get the opportunity to set the agenda for your company, and you will have its vast resources under your command to achieve the company's overall objectives.

Of course, with leadership come responsibilities. In order to become a true technical leader, you need to have the breadth and depth of knowledge of your field before you can be relied on to safely set the future direction of your company. Your understanding of your company's strengths and weaknesses, and that of your company's competition should be complete. Similarly, your knowledge of the state of technology in your industry, as well as the role of emerging technologies and their impact on your industry must be complete and comprehensive.

Gaining knowledge is one part of the story - the other part is integrating it with each other - looking for overlooked opportunities that advance the field significantly. Moreover, these overlooked opportunities often provide very lucrative spaces to operate in for your company - and as a technical leader, the executive leadership will be looking to you to help connect the dots.

Even as your expertise deepens within your industry, and your level of contribution starts affecting not only your firm, but also the industry at large (through participation in conferences, writing papers and so forth) - you will be expected to shape the future of the technology for your nation and in a small way, the world itself. If you are thus seeking to be a technical leader, ensure that your foundations are strong and deep, for you have to rise to exceptional heights.

Executive level income ($500,000 to $1million+), deep respect of peers, incredible perks, and a deeply satisfying life will simply follow. As the saying goes "As you sow, so shall you reap" - the same follows for the service you provide as a technical leader. Do not be satisfied with the status quo, but instead seek to expand the field, integrate knowledge across fields, advance your industry, and finally, advance your firm's profits - this will firmly establish you as having become a true Technical Leader.