I think it is dangerous to overgeneralize, as I think some of you have, that conventional leadership positions involve little to no work or “leading” and are essentially won by popularity contests. I could give many counterexamples, and it seems to me that the legitimacy of a leadership position depends on who is put in that position and what they do with it. Sometimes leaders are chosen in a popularity contest, but in my experience they are just as often chosen on the basis of merit.