A good engineering manager doesn't need to be "smart" or even really "hard working". They don't even really need to be technical, just have good relationships w

A good engineering manager doesn't need to be "smart" or even really "hard working". They don't even really need to be technical, just have good relationships with their lead. Good managers need to have some sense of responsibility to their reports, they need to take and invite criticism, and have the drive to change according to that. Most managers in tech do not have these qualities, for whatever reason we hire a notoriously self-centered, egotistical bunch, focused on their own success. All that to say, it sounds like had you gone the manager route you'd likely have been that manager. If you want to be a manager, then focus on those internal qualities first before you have reports whose lives you can make miserable.