Have you ever tried insulting your boss?
I'm not suggesting you try it :)
Leaders often 'run' for the office and do all in their power to defend and protect their position. Without it, they sense they will be smaller or less.
The Torah's approach to leadership turns this conventional model on its head.
At the end of this week's Torah portion, Shlach, a rebellion erupted against the role of spiritual leaders like Moses and The High Priest. The claim seemed rather pious: Imagine you have a synagogue filled with Torah scrolls; wouldn't it be pointless and unnecessary to affix a Mezuzah, containing a meager two paragraphs from the Torah, on its doorpost? So if everyone in the community has a soul and is inherently connected with G-d, why the need for a spiritual leader?
But the argument was flawed. (Just check the doorposts of the synagogue on your next visit:)) Why? Because though a Torah scroll is sacred, it remains tucked away in the ark and not accessible or relatable. The Mezuzah has a critical role then, of making Jewish spirituality alive, as people encounter and engage with it every time they come and go.
This is exactly the role of a Jewish spiritual leader. Leaders are not more privileged than regular people. Actually, ordinary Jews are as sacred as Torah scrolls! But a good Jewish leader serves his people by cultivating the inherent power and infinite goodness we all already possess. So we all recognize we are like Torah scrolls!