We should not use popular opinion as a measure of leadership prowess:

Popular opinion indicates the extent to which the group psyche feels that the leader is serving the salient group goal. 

Since the group psyche sometimes selects for harmful short-term goals that threaten healthy long-term goals, sometimes appropriate leadership requires making unpopular decisions. 

Therefore, we would be wise to be suspicious of leaders who are always held in high regard by their group, much as we might be suspicious of a couple that claims to be happy but never has an argument, or a parent that never has conflict with their teen.