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Leadership is the ability to persuade others toward actions of one's own choosing. A person who employs this ability often, or formally, is known as a leader. There are several different types of leaders, and it's not uncommon for a group to have multiple leaders arranged in a hierarchy. Among the Losties, Jack is the de facto leader; however, within a group of such opposing viewpoints and personalities, a certain amount of challenging and subverting is to be expected. Among the Others, the ultimate hierarchy is currently less clearly defined, but characters such as Ben and Juliet seem to hold more influence than the rest that have been seen.
Jack Shepard, leader of the Losties
Jack
Jack Shepard, leader of the Losties
Jack was chosen as the group leader largely for his ability to act with a clear head amidst a medical crisis, especially in the immediate aftermath of the crash of flight 815. During that incident, he was able to lead both by example, and direction. By triaging patients quickly, and delegating responsibility to others where he needed assistance, Jack quickly earned the respect of his fellow castaways. He prefers to lead passively, by encouraging people to self-motivate, and dealing with them one-on-one. He will address the group as a whole during times of trouble, but only when asked. His perspective on leadership is addressed in "Exodus, Part 2", when he cynically tells Kate, "Everybody wants me to be a leader until I make a decision that they don't like."
Favorable Leadership Qualities
Self-Assuredness: As a surgeon, Jack is used to making life or death decisions, often on the spur of the moment. In these situations, hesitating to second guess can be fatal, so Jack has learned to choose an option and follow it through. Despite the fact that this occasionally leads to over-confidence, and sends him in the wrong direction, confidence is an appealing trait to people seeking leadership.
Social Mindedness: Jack's view of morality tends to favor the well-being of the group over the individual, including himself. His tendency to undervalue his own contributions can occasionally be problematic, as he is always the first to undertake any mission that might be dangerous, and has had to be reminded on more than one occasion that keeping the only doctor on the Island healthy is beneficial for the entire group. This gives the general perception of heroism, and causes most of the survivors to view him favorably. The major exception to this is Sawyer, who tends to value the individual (including, but not limited to, himself) over the group, and causes a major point of friction between the two.
Charisma: Jack's physical attractiveness, macro-managerial style, approachability, and normally easy-going nature, and tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve make him an easy candidate. People generally like and respect Jack, often from a first impression. Even people he has had rivalries or disagreements with have come to the point of befriending/ following him.
Unfavorable Qualities
Stubbornness: Jack's determination to see things through can cause him to push himself too hard. Unrested, Jack becomes irritable and sometimes irrational. At one point Kate actually crushed sleeping pills into his juice, to force him to sleep. Jack has been told on several occasions by his friends, father, and even enemies, that he doesn't know how to let go. It's important for a leader be able to recognize the occasions where losses must be cut.
Emotional Response: While a heart-on-your-sleeve approach to life is often viewed favorably as honesty, such passion can cause a person to feel first and think later. Jack is an incredibly bright man, but his short temper can cause him to escalate already tense situations, rather than defuse them. This includes moments where he feels that his decisions or authority are under question, and can turn a simple disagreement into a violent brawl.
Locke
John Locke, stepped in as leader when Jack was captured
Locke emerged as a leader by establishing himself as the most competent hunter in the group. His belief in fatalism gives him an inspiring confidence; however, it also leaves him looking for signs and omens, and often makes his rationales difficult to explain. He'll generally avoid this pitfall by not explaining himself, preferring a mysterious smile. This is enough for many, but has caused some friction between himself and Jack, who strongly believes in determinism over fatalism. Locke prefers to let Jack handle the day-to-day of group management, and tends to influence people on a one-on-one basis; however, he did step into a more formal leadership role after Jack's capture by the Others, to address the group with a rescue plan.
Favorable Leadership Qualities
Usefulness: Locke's skills at tracking, hunting, and cleaning make him an indespensible member of the group. He alone has been able to quite literally bring home the bacon, and this has earned him a great deal of respect.
Confidence: Locke's faith in the Island often gives him a confidence that other members of the group consider reassuring. For example, Charlie once called Locke "The one man I would put my absolute faith in to get us off this island." However, during periods where he can't find any omens, Locke becomes frustrated and seems to lose his sense of direction.
Personal Guidance: Locke has a gift for offering unsolicited advice in a way that people listen to. He helped Charlie decide to quit Heroine, made Claire feel useful while she was pregnant, convinced Boone and Shannon to let go of each other, and admonished Walt to respect his father, Michael. This leaves the people he's helped with a respect for him and a sense of indebtedness.
Unfavorable Qualities
Solitary Nature: Locke has a tendency to be a loner. While everyone else is on the beach working on the raft, Locke is more likely to be alone in the woods tracking boar, or digging up mysterious hunks of metal. It's difficult for him to lead when he simply isn't around.
Unconventional Attitudes: Locke's eagerness to adapt to life on the Island, his suitcase of big knives, and his creation of a seemingly new religion all combined to give the Losties an initially uneasy feeling about him. He won many of them over on an individual basis with varying degrees of difficulty, however, and his contributions of fresh meat went a long way towards assuaging people's doubts.
Blind Faith: Locke's faith in the Island, in omens, and in dreams is fervent enough to sometimes blind him to other dangers. There's also the chance that he's simply misinterpreted the signs, which can potentially put himself and others in danger. Two people have died so far, Boone and Eko, from accompanying Locke on a quest initiated by a dream. While he was not directly responsible for either death, it isn't a stunning track record.
Sayid
Sayid has a cool head in crisis
Sayid's military experiences, critical mind, and technological skills have caused him to emerge as a leading personality within the group. He is one of the few people on the Island who can calmly disagree with Jack by using reason, which seems an odd counterpoint to his skills with physical torture. Sayid seems content with a secondary leadership role, allowing Jack to make most of the decisions, and advising only when he strongly disagrees.
Favorable Leadership Qualities
Military Bearing: A military bearing implies that a man has seen hostile action and survived, which can be very reassuring to a frightened group of people. Also, people tend to instinctively obey someone who naturally speaks with authority.
Level-headedness: Sayid's ability to remain objective during crisis has made him a respected voice of reason, and an asset in discussions of tactics. It also makes him one of the few people who can influence Jack when he behaves irrationally.
Technological Skills: Sayid has demonstrated the ability to create radios, transceivers, receivers, triangulators, and S.O.S signals out of spare parts from laptop computers, cell phones, and car batteries. If the Island allows signals to escape, he is the Losties best chance of sending a message to flag down a passing ship from the outside world. He was also able to delay disaster by fixing the computer in the Swan after Desmond accidentally shot it.
Unfavorable Qualities
Solitary Nature: Sayid, like Locke, is a bit of a loner. While he's among the group more than Locke, he obviously values his solitude, and often ventures to secluded beaches or jungle clearings away from the main group. This separation runs slightly against Jack's policy of "Live together, Die alone.
Cultural Barriers: Sayid's Iraqi heritage poses a slight problem in associating with the rest of the Losties, in that they simply haven't found a common comfort zone yet. For example, Hurley made a cultural reference to a song, but then has to wonder if Sayid even got the joke (he did). There was also some initial racially-driven mistrust, but that seems to have been largely overcome.
Coldness: Sayid's willingness and training to torture people for information could be a real asset to the group under the right circumstances, although he has yet to successfully extract any information from his two attempts on the Island (Sawyer and Ben). It's also a reason for people to approach him cautiously, and a natural impetus for a certain amount of fear.
Boone
Boone Carlyle; good hearted, but young
Boone Carlyle was another early, if self-nominated, candidate for leader. He quite obviously cared a great deal about those around him, and had a form of prior leadership experience- a fact that he brought up early and often in his first days on the Island. His youth often got in the way, however, as he was prone to rash decisions and the mistakes of inexperience.
Favorable Leadership Qualities
Prior Experience: Boone's Pre-Island experiences as the Vice President of a bridal-wear company gave him a confidence in his own decisions, which can be an attractive quality in a leader. Unfortunately, Boone's head-first approach either lead him to make the wrong decision, or to make the right one, but get in over his head.
Courage: As Sayid said at Boone's funeral, Boone was a courageous young man who put others above himself. When he spotted Joanna in trouble in the water, his first instinct was to swim out himself and get her. After he nearly drowned in the attempt, his first thoughts were still of her well-being.
Unfavorable Qualities
Upbringing: Boone's greatest drawback was his age. At 22, he was simply too young, too sheltered, and too wealthy to have the experience necessary to lead a group of adults.
Poor Decisions: Boone had several foibles early on in which he made terrible choices, albeit with good intentions. As the water supply began to dry up during the early days on the Island, Boone stole the water with the intention of rationing the remainder. However, a panic started when the theft was noticed and the situation rapidly got out of his control. When Shannon's Asthma started acting up, Boone took it upon himself to raid Sawyer's stash for her medication, rather than ask Sawyer for it, or ask anyone else for help. These two incidents both earned him beatings.
Ben
The Others work in an atmosphere of fear
While it's difficult to know the exact structure of the Other's society, because of their aptitudes for deception and secrecy, it has become apparent that Ben is an important player. While he may or may not carry the final authority on all matters, it's obvious that he holds a great deal of sway over those around him.
Favorable Leadership Qualities
Manipulation: Ben is highly skilled in the art of deception, and an adept observer of people. He has the abilities to control the information people receive, and to influence the way they perceive outside information. Because of this, he can influence the actions of others in his own favor, even when they are actively rebelling against him.
Unfavorable Qualities
Fear: Leading people through fear is a common practice among Fascist governments. This type of leadership spawns rebellion, and can cause the eventual overthrow of a leader.
Juliet
Can Juliet be trusted?
While the source of Juliet's influence has yet to be revealed, it's obvious that she commands a certain amount of respect from those around her. She's the only character among the Others known to intentionally counter Ben. She's also the only person Sawyer took seriously when he suprise attacked the Others in the quarry to test their strength.
Favorable Leadership Qualities
Cool-Headedness: Juliet's capacity to remain calm in extreme circumstances, like Jack holding a shard of glass to her throat, earned her some respect from both Ben and Jack.
Subtlety: She's been cautious about how she's undercut Ben's authority, which limits reprisal. Examples of this behavior include: throwing a book club meeting without inviting Ben, and using a book the rest of the group knows he wouldn't read; leaving Ben's x-ray out where Jack would obviously see it, before Ben was ready to reveal that information; and playing Jack a video that couldn't be seen by the security camera, in which she asked him to kill Ben, and make it look like an accident.
Unfavorable Qualities
Subversive Tendancies: Juliet has shown a level of subversiveness that can imply a power-hungry attitude. Ambition is admirable, but pursuit of power itself is seldom a positive quality in a leader.
Dishonesty: Her proven skill in deception makes her untrustworthy.