I use the documentation hack all the time. Junior engineers are frequently amazed by how much I know. My secret is that I know where the documentation is and when I learn something, I add it to the docs. Half the time I answer a question I have to look it up again in the docs.
My frustration is that most engineers seem allergic to updating docs. I think this is some combination of (1) don't know docs exist (2) feel confident they can write authoritatively (3) falsely believe that docs that aren't 100% correct are useless (4) don't like to write or don't feel rewarded for writing. For different engineers, it's a different combo, but the net result is still that the docs don't get updated as much as they could if everyone pitched in.
My suspicion is that it's part of an, "If I don't have to be involved then I'm not special" fear, but I can't read people's minds.
You're both acting as a people-manager unblocking and growing your team's skills but only getting comped for aspects of an IC which you start to get less and less time for.
I routinely see HR departments pathetically fail in recognizing this and end up losing seasoned engineers cause let's face it, if you're worth your salt you can switch companies easily and just do the IC work and get properly comped for it.
I hope to god he has a competent lead or manager who understands and encourages they stay on point.
