[sliverstorm]

But what if you are worth more, managing a group of engineers?

Sure, it is a bit of a new skill, but the ace engineer who can guide a team with his engineering wisdom is way more valuable than the engineer who just works by himself.

[sheepmullet]

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.