People who are cool are independent and autonomous. They do their own thing. Because they embody American values of individualism and independence, we really warm up to people who are cool. Ironically, their indifference to the opinion of others is an attraction to others. Because they don't depend on us for their cool, we often want to depend on them for ours.
Cool people are charismatic.
Even though they don't seem to care about people, cool kids are often socially graceful. If you're cool, you can't be caught sucking up to people, in part because you're the one who's already up. Even without any leadership training, cool people are natural-born leaders. They're not trailblazers because they want to lead particularly, but because they seem to be going in a different or a new direction, and other people want to follow. Real cool, of course, is effortless.