I have tried moving up the management chain (PM/TPM/Architect/C*). The biggest challenge I found is that generally I was still the most productive engineer available to apply to most problems, so I still spent time writing code (the alternative was like watching a fire burn out of control while holding a fire extinguisher). In some orgs (particularly bigger enterprises) that hit up against a wall of expectations for what people in my role could/should do. Eventually I settled on consulting as better fit--I still do stuff across the full spectrum, but as an outsider I'm not expected to fit into a particular box.
