A person can be in a position of power and yet not have the respect of the people who live under the sway and threat of that power. Such a person does not usually have legitimate moral authority. Such a person can t be a true leader. Leadership is ultimately a moral category. The position of a true leader is more a matter of respect and regard than it is of organizational title.
Leaders can be anywhere in an organization.
Likewise, those at the top may not be true leaders at all, but only titular obstacles to the real progress of the organization, exercising power indeed but carrying no moral authority whatsoever. The person of position who wrongly thinks that title confers authority is often found exercising power as an attempted proof for that false belief. He deals in force and fear, mistakenly thinking that these things evoke the sort of respect that is a necessary part of authority. But the sort of respect that confers legitimate authority is never the same thing as fear, and it doesn t naturally arise out of fear. Respect is connected not with fear but with honor.