I've been traveling, at three conferences in three weeks. At some point during these weeks, a few people asked me, "What's the difference between a technical lead and a first line manager?" Given their job descriptions, which include helping people manage their careers, seems to me that the answer is $10,000-$20,000. That is, the technical lead was being paid less, but doing the same work as a manager.
Ok, maybe I'm being a little cynical. Wouldn't be the first time today :-) But, I don't think anyone is restricted from being a technical leader. That person doesn't have to manage people or help them manage their careers. My opinion is that anyone who is responsible for results generate by other people is some kind of manager.
But a technical leader, is in Jerry Weinberg's words, "Leadership is the process of creating an environment in which everyone feels empowered", from Becoming a Technical Leader.
The people I spoke with did that. They also did many other kinds of work, including leading design/architecture work, which is what many of them thought the tech lead job was. But if you think about creating an environment, you can see that if you facilitate a decision, you're a technical leader. If you make it easier to ask for support or help, you're a technical leader. If you ask for whiteboards or chairs or some other tool, and that tool makes it easier for people to work and collaborate, you are a technical leader.
I wish organizations would stop using the term "tech lead" to stop paying first line managers what they are worth. I wish more people would exercise their technical leadership muscles.
Just remember, it doesn't matter what they call you, you can be a technical leader.
Thank you for putting this together. Personally, I think one of the key attributes that separates a manager from a leader is vision. Leaders will inherently work towards something without being poked or prodded. Managers on the other hand are generally told by someone further up the chain what needs to be done. It becomes there job to manage a team to get their. That's why leaders have followers and managers have employees :)