Hi, Chip - excellent post.

I cannot add anything to the points you have covered - very comprehensive:)

I would offer that the message I am getting from this post is two-fold:

1)  Leaders do not operate in some lonely and removed place "at the top", but in the middle of many others, most of whom depend on the leader for their livelihood, well-being, and maybe even their lives.

2) The only way the leader can inspire those others to cluster around the flag in the face of turmoil, risk, and danger is to be authentic in their own actions and forge strong connections with those others.

As you have so nicely pointed out, this is not the "Lonely Leader" image sold to us by some.

When you wrap this around the idea that everyone has some leadership capability to share, that almost anyone can lead in a certain set of circumstances, and in summation, we are all leaders in some ways ... your wisdom makes perfect sense.

John