That's a false dichotomy. You can guide a team while "just" being a member of the team. Leadership and management are not the same skill. I guess what you are

That's a false dichotomy. You can guide a team while "just" being a member of the team. Leadership and management are not the same skill. I guess what you are saying sort of makes sense in teams with a high ratio of junior:senior engineers. But I'd question whether that is a good way to structure a team if you are working on complex tasks.