It's fun to be a "star player" developer, but in terms of maximizing your own individual potential, you're always going to be able to produce more value by lead

It's fun to be a "star player" developer, but in terms of maximizing your own individual potential, you're always going to be able to produce more value by leading people than by your own output alone. There are some technical mountains to climb which require superlative engineering talent, but in terms of impact it's hard to compete with a leader who is able to coalesce a team or organization effectively towards a single goal.