Hey there Teldorserious,
You're right on a few points here. When you're the boss you make the rules, but when you take all the good trips, the pilots quickly resent you, and then you end up having beers with guys who you know can't stand you.
As for being gone vs being home with the wife and kids, you should figure that one out before you take your CPL checkride. If you want to be home every night and manage people and gin up budgets, buy a pizza pub.
I've spent plenty of years in management and around managers. Partly, we all should take a turn, but in my view, 70% of the time it's pilots who are burned out or with weak flying and people skills who gravitate to the office jobs.
Nope, a reasonable schedule and a blackberry that only goes off when a flight plan and hotac info shows up is what it's about if you are a professional pilot. Aviation managers are neither pilots or managers, just frustrated and burned out little men hiding in an office along with the angry old flight attendants.
FR