My first lead position, I was hired with money saved by firing an architect who was all talk (on a small team, like this one, that becomes glaringly apparent very quickly). They wanted someone with rudimentary architecture chops who could grow into a lead role, but who was hands-on. I obliged.

Over the years, I've found the most productive way to go is for the leads to share the responsibility, with input, tie-breaking, and the occasional veto by a technically literate project manager ("yes that sounds neat but it's antagonistic to our business goals so pick something else").

Architecture as a responsibility, not a title. It's harder to prioritize - there is no point person - but the payoffs if you do manage it are not to be sneezed at.

You trust people with skin in the game, who suffer along with you when the 'right decision' results in near-term pain. Some guy who barely writes code lecturing you about how you're doing it wrong? Nobody respects that guy, except to their face, when the bosses are around.