Being a Leader (and the creed behind it)

It seems that in the US, there is much more talk about leaders as in Europe, i.e. there seems to be the assumption in place that an individual leader can (and often does) make a huge difference. Maybe this is derived from the American belief in the power of the individual, of a can-be-done mentality (with often positive, but sometimes also very negative implications). This is at least the impression after one has read some articles about managers and leaders for last week's comparative public management class.

And yes, if you like, you can find examples in the real-world:

Dieter Zetsche was praised as "Dr. Z" (coming from Daimler-Benz, Germany) when he was able to change and cut at Chrysler, but his success was only temporary... soon afterwards, the Germans gave up, considered Chrysler to be a hopeless case and sold the company.

"Change we can believe in" - aha! And now? Do we really need to wait for the federal government to change, or can we change ourselves and move our own butt towards a more efficient & sustainable future? Or do we need to wait for the seem-to-be-Messiah?
A leader can only have an impact if he has some people around him ready to join forces, ready to commit themselves to the common cause, but also critical enough not to follow blindly.

Hailed as a genius not long time ago, John Thain was "Lynched at Merrill" (title in the Financial Times, Monday, January 26, 2009), after it became clear that the board of Merrill Lynch paid out about 4bn $ in boni despite a desastrous 2008.

Yeah, sometimes it takes more to be a good leader than many believe - but all too often people suddenly hail you and follow you blindly if you start to have some (unexpeceted?) success. This seems to be easier here in the US. But it seems also to be easier here to go down fast - faster than in Europe, and people abandon you as if you're a hot and smelly potato. And suddenly, a new 'leader' emerges....

...is this typical for a big country? Or is this impression typical for somebody who has grown up in a small country (which has an aversion against big-time leaders and (pseudo-)elites?)?
In any case, sometimes it might be helpful to think and examine, before hail, praise and follow - the downturn might be too strong to indulge into the luxury of not thinking...