I think to be a good Application or Database Developer there has to be something a little wrong with you. This is not the kind of thing that "normal" people do. I see development as a calling, more than a career or a job, and I usually enjoy the heck out out of it. I am amazed every day that people actually pay me to work in this field.

As the Director of Development (Software) at my company, my focus is on strategic planning, conceptual thinking, and managing projects and resources. In addition, I spend a lot of time teaching and mentoring my staff. I would like to think that this helps improve the skills and capabilities of everyone who works in my department. I try to foster an attitude of curiosity, confidence and an expectation that no matter how challenging a task or a problem is - that they will have, or can obtain, the tools to conquer those challenges. And to be fair, there are plenty of times where they teach me a thing or two!

The effect of this focus is that I don't get to do a lot of coding at work anymore - but I do try to keep my hand in from time to time (and it gives me a chance to show off to my people when I solve something that they have been struggling with!). I also do a lot of development and studying outside of work. My areas of expertise are in relational databases (data modeling, defining processes, etc) and .NET development.