From IC to management and back: an architect's perspective on the pendulum

i've had a bit of a pendulum career path, moving from staff engineer to engineering manager and then back to principal engineer over the last six years. each transition, whether moving into management or returning to an individual contributor role, taught me a lot about different facets of building and leading. the initial move from ic to management was a huge surprise. the shift from solving technical problems to solving people and organizational problems was jarring. i found i missed the deep technical work. however, the management experience gave me a much broader perspective on strategic alignment, communication, and navigating organizational politics, which has been incredibly valuable in my current principal architect role. anyone else make these kinds of shifts? what were the most unexpected challenges or benefits of moving between management and ic tracks? how has your management experience, or lack thereof, influenced your architectural decisions or leadership style as a senior ic?