You have a team, you have control, you can make the decisions, and you can finally get others to do things your way. Your team respects you and is happy to yield to your authority in all matters. You think they should write more tests? You tell them, “Write more tests,” and they do it! You want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly despite their gender, race, and so on? You make sure that it happens, and fire anyone who crosses the line and creates an environment that is unhealthy for the rest of the team.
Because you care about people, they know that you’re always trying to do your best for them even when they disagree with you. They give you the benefit of the doubt, and come to your 1-1s with open feedback for you when you’re screwing up, and eager to receive feedback from you. Dealing with people is stressful, sure, but they know you care about them, so it’s also highly rewarding. You see the impact of your coaching happen quickly now that you are in this position of authority.
When you see another manager doing something that seems wrong, you are free to go give him advice in the same way you would talk to another engineer who needed help on a system design. Other managers are always interested in hearing what you think, and they can see how effectively you’ve gotten your team working, how clearly you care about the health of the organization, and how genuine your interest is in just making everyone better.
Your manager gives you plenty of coaching but rarely steps in to tell you what to do. The minute that you feel ready to take on a bigger team, your manager is open to giving you more people and expanding your organization. She hands you goals that are clear and rarely changes things. Even though you have a lot of responsibilities, you still have some time to write blog posts and give talks, and this is encouraged because it will help your team hire and improve your standing in the tech industry.
In short, you get to make decisions, you create the culture, and your effectiveness is evident to all around you, making your path to promotion quick and your career exciting and lucrative.