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"The carved head always points in the direction where the boat goes, BUT IT DOES NOT STEER THE BOAT."

...hmmm....???

We must have gotten it ALL WRONG in the Navy.

The Captain could most often be found on the bridge, directing the day's tasks.

No, I think your analogy might be more fitting to a parliamentary type of government. I sure want more out of MY president than a mere figurehead.....

"We must have gotten it ALL WRONG in the Navy. "
You served in the Viking Navy? Carved heads are somewhat archaic ornaments, you know. And as for "directing the day's tasks", one ex-naval officer james earl carter, if memory serves, was very good at it.
Directing the day's tasks is management. Leadership is something else. Sun Tsu wrote that the secret of a successful general was to have his soldiers die willingly. Shelling the Chinese military context out, it is to inspire extremely high degree of devotion [inspire and project, in contemporary lingo]. This is leadership. And managing the daily tasks is sergeantism. Leadership is like being the soul and personality of the place. An organization can have an unlimited number of managers, but only one leader at a time [unless organization suffers from split personality or leadership struggle].