Leader, president, ruler.
The center of attention.
The lightning rod.
Being placed in a position of power does strange things to a person - suddenly everyone is trying to convince you to
believe this or promote that - there will be arguments and attempts at persuasion of every kind. Often it is not the power itself that corrupts, but
the people around you who want power that corrupt. "Leadership" positions like that change people, which can be a dangerous thing - it is how they lose touch with the daily reality of the people they are trying to help, no matter how good their original intentions.
Thus direct democracy.
Specials thanks to Mario Cuomo (or his speech-writer).