It was foolish because I worked at a large company, and team leads were basically impotent eunuchs who ran errands for the higher ups. I also worked in a department that had pathological ideas on how long developers ought to work (including weekends), and how short product schedules should be (unfeasibly short).

There were some benefits. I loved being able to help the guys on my team. I did my best to promote their achievements, and argue for them at project schedule meetings. I was very happy to get one of my guys a really good placement on the "technical career path" system when it reared its ugly head at the company.

Ultimately, my strengths are in technical problem solving, not in managing the psychopaths who seem to ascend to the upper echelons of large companies.

There rarely are.