Honestly, I did the IC -> manager switch when I ran my company, mostly because I had to - we hadn't hired anyone to run the team and so I sort of fell into that

Honestly, I did the IC -> manager switch when I ran my company, mostly because I had to - we hadn't hired anyone to run the team and so I sort of fell into that role as CTO. I echo 'flyinglizard's comments entirely - your metrics change, and you have to be willing to set aside your ego about being 'the smartest person in the room' (was never important to me) and be able to glean happiness from watching your team succeed. It's not entirely thankless, as while you don't get credit for individual wins, you do get lots of credit for team wins; be sure to spread that credit around, though, because you want to highlight your engineers' accomplishments. That's one of the best ways to maintain rapport. Also, realize that you now serve your team, rather than the other way around; your job is to make them more efficient and better, in whatever way you can. A suggestion: it is 'lonely at the top,' and anyone who says otherwise hasn't done it long enough to feel it yet. I highly recommend finding someone outside the team who you trust and can talk to about team issues, and who won't spread rumors or get info back to your team. That may be a different person depending on who the issue is with, but you want to have someone to talk to. Also highly recommend Rands' Slack: https://randsinrepose.com/welcome-to-rands-leadership-slack/ https://randsinrepose.com/welcome-to-rands-leadership-slack/ I've since switched back into an IC role after I got the company acquired, but will inevitably end up managing again, most likely when I start a new company. Neither is better, tbh; they're just different, and you have to adjust your expectations for what makes you happy no matter which role you're in.