Agreed. "Where's my dopamine" is the right way to describe it. As an IC I could find a bug, craft a test that reproduces it, write a fix, see the test go green, see the PR get approved and land... I'd get a little dopamine ping at each step. As a manager I'd have days where I had constructive 1:1s in the morning and maybe made a decision on some strategic or resourcing problem in an afternoon meeting. Of course I recognised that the work was not only valuable, but higher impact than just fixing a bug. But the direct hit in the pleasure receptors just wasn't there. I'd finish a day a like that and instead of feeling happy with my work, I'd just feel exhausted and not looking forward to the next day.

After a few years as a manager I switched back to the IC track. I sometimes wonder if my experience means I'm just hard-wired to be an IC, or if with more time and practice you can train yourself to get the dopamine feedback from management activities.