The good news is that we're learning more every day about how to give groups the best chance of achieving synergy, humanity and leverage. And individuals can make a large difference to a group. You could be that person. Moreover, this set of individuals must do so in a sufficiently coordinated manner to act as a group, while encouraging independent thinking. If Poole is right, we're caught in a dilemma where individual and group goals often conflict with one another.
Strong leaders can often be the cause of the problem.
Looking to politics and world history gives us many examples where strong leaders have led entire nations into terrible mistakes. Strong leadership is clearly not sufficient to guarantee strong group performance. Leaders can only improve group performance if they do the things that make groups work. If strong leaders don't know how to help groups or are unaware of their personal impact, they can actually impair group performance. Compliance and obedience can accomplish much, but they don't evoke the synergy and group intelligence that breed peak performance, innovation and long-term success.