From the couple dozen leaders in your clan, you must pick 7 to represent your people and manage aspects of the clan. How the gods and fate treat your clan is dependent on your selection. Each leader has skills, some more, some less. Each skill is rated and they do change over time. Any of your clan leaders can be selected for missions and are heavily involved in your clan's conflicts.
Leaders can also spawn events within the game.
A leader who is not on your ring might be stirring up trouble in the clan to get on the ring. As well a leader on the ring might be making unpopular decisions and members of your tribe might want them to step down. I like this game. I honestly thought I would not. It looked so simple when I was researching it before I started playing.