The zealots we profile frustrate the archetype of a “textbook” leader. But they’re a vital focus of any leadership study, because they lay bare the idea that leadership is a feedback loop more than a top-down process. Propelled by underlying chaos, their followers craved the magnetism that came to define Robespierre and Zarqawi. The feedback loop that propelled these zealots sheds light on a crucial question: How does leadership help take people to dark places?
