Some of the greatest books I have ever read are in the Book of the Dun Cow novel series, where the main character is a rooster in charge who keeps time in the barnyard through his canonical hour crows - each crow being named something like Vespers, Compline, Matins, etc. which I believe are prayer times in the old Catholic tradition.
And recently I just finished Lord of the Flies, where Ralph is chosen as leader because he is able to blow on a conch shell loud enough to be heard and assemble the scattered children throughout the island.
And it made me think that these individuals weren't established as leaders because of their strength or their brains or any other kind of competitive edge. They were established more-or-less because they were loud enough to be heard, and because they possessed a fair degree of organizational skills.
Is this determination of leadership a recurring theme in literature? Are there any other works with leadership being determined in a similar manner?
