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Since every individual is a member of one or more groups and is subject to various types of group leadership, an analysis of the sources of power of the group leader not only provides important data for group therapists, but is of vital importance to everyone. Although other aspects of group psychology have been thoroughly investigated, the power and position of the group leader has been neglected. Redl 19 commenting on Freud's formulation of group leadership says, “There is no doubt that Freud's article 9 is incomplete, and that it does invite more supplementation than any of his other writings.”
Historically, groups were viewed as being subject to their leaders. This view that groups are composed of inferior individuals whose leaders provide them with impetus and ideas is a deeply rooted concept. It is intimately connected to the history of the Idealistic philosophies, originating with Plato's “Guardians” 18 and finding many subsequent apostles, one of the last and most vociferous being Carlyle. Carlyle 5 tells us “Universal History, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here. They were the leaders of men, these great ones; the modelers, patterners, and in a wide sense creators of whatsoever the general mass of men contrived to do or attain” Redl 19 shows how such dualistic concepts continue to influence psychiatric reasoning, concluding his discussion of group emotions and leadership by acknowledging both his own and Freud's indebtedness to Plato.
Writers and critics, drawing on French Revolutionary groups for material, support Carlyle in his vilification of the crowd. Burke called them “bands of ruffians and assassins” and Taine 21 referred to them