For about two years I've been directly managing developers. I like the "bird-eye view" it gives me on the product and its context within the business and how it allows me to coach the team towards better outcomes. However, I find myself struggling to be motivated by the Career Development/Performance Management part of the job. I think I'm doing an okay job, but I fail to find the energy to be really good at it and produce plans that would make long-term improvements in the team. It might be because the effects of that work are so abstract and subject to so many variables that I don't necessarily control that it's really hard for me to judge that I'm "good".

Now, I know that my job will require more and more of that type of work if I continue on the management track. So, people in that path (especially those who were devs before), how do you make sure that your job stays exciting?