Leadership: an Individualistic Endeavor?

I feel as if the point of a leader is to be an individual and take charge of the human, financial, resources and other capital, direct and organize those pieces. In Commerce one day Professor Kemp discussed how in mergers there is never a merger of two equal partners, in the end one organization will take charge of the new engagement. I'm not saying a leader shouldn't listen to others and coordinate with them, in fact, those are key qualities of a leader, but these aspects don't always get the job done well or efficiently, or even at all. I know from personal experience sometimes the group just has bad ideas and at times, or even many times, a leader has to shake them up and organize them to task so the organization can at the very least continue, possibly even thrive. However, a leader who doesn't listen is probably a bad leader - not always though - and a bad leader can almost be as bad as having none at all. I definitely believe our speaker made some valid points, but I also feel, to some extent, she demoted a leader to just another group member who may happen to exert a little more influence than the rest of the group and doesn't want to hurt others feelings, and I don't believe that is the point of someone who leads. The point of a leader is to lead.