What a great topic! I have had several management positions throughout my career and decided to take a step back a couple of years ago into an "individual contributor" role at a new company to refresh my skills. Management is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you have the issues that you describe in the article with being liked and being "one of the boys". You also have the issue of taking the blame for others' mistakes (my least favorite part of the job).

Perhaps what I like best though is being able to influence change very quickly. You are no longer just another voice in a series of voices making a suggestion. You are the decision maker and if you are a capable DBA at the same time, you can right a whole lot of wrongs very quickly.

Looking forward to the next article.