Thanks mollydot.

And Ard Rí is High King - the king of all Ireland. The others were kings of provinces. Or smaller areas, perhaps? My history is not so good.

Two more Irish ones for you: rí and banríon - king and queen

LOL Kahuna, I don't know why but this is a new favorite word of mine. Maybe i'm getting tired. But on wikipedia i found out there's forty different types of kahuna listed in the book, 'Tales from the Night Rainbow'. Night Rainbow. I'm adding that right away, I have never seen a Night Rainbow, have you?

CEO or chief executive officer. pendragon. sachem. khan. fugleman. hetman. ataman. heresiarch. mandriarch. patriarch. emir. jarl. jemidar. agha. caliph. shah. imam. tzaddik. sirdar. malik. grand mufti. foreman. pontiff. chief rabbi. subadar. chancellor.

Thanks sionnach, it sounds grand. I think we need more Irish words here.

Taoiseach is an Irish word, originally meaning "leader" or "chieftain". Now mainly used to refer to Ireland's prime minister; useful in alliterative phrases such as the "teflon taoiseach".

The second-in-command, or deputy prime minister, is referred to as the tánaiste. In history the tánaiste was the heir of the chief (taoiseach).

Take me to your kahuna.

Wow, neat word mollydot! Is it Gaelic? I could check around here (Scotland) and see if they have the same thing. I hope you find the yarn shop soon!
Spin-doctors might think they lead public opinion but I'm agin'it. Godfather is closer in the Hollywood sense but the traditional meaning is not one of absolute authority. Even the Italian equivalent padrone might instill fear in Sicily but it's just run-of-the-mill owner elsewhere.

drum major

spin doctor, godfather, Master Mason the Third Degree.

Re yarn shop: It's not exactly a who, and I missed the list description about leaders, so it doesn't work at all for your list. But it's somewhere I'd like to be taken to :-)

Here's a better one: Taoiseach, an Irish word. Current meaning is prime minister, literal meaning is leader.

Take me to your Pharaoh bilby.

I think Guru is a kind of leader type although the word literally means teacher. Cos I looked up Lama, which have the same meaning. And I think a Lama can be considered a spiritual leader (as well as a teacher) to quite a few people.

From Wiki: Lama (Tibetan: བླ་མ་; Wylie: bla-ma) is a title for a Tibetan religious teacher. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term 'guru' (see Tibetan Buddhism and Bön). The title can be used as an honorific title conferred on a monk, nun or (in the Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya schools) advanced tantric practitioner to designate a level of spiritual attainment and authority to teach, or may be part of a title such as Dalai Lama or Panchen Lama applied to a lineage of reincarnate lamas (Tulkus).

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll go principal for teacher as headmaster is just another derivation of master and that could go on forever.

Emperor

"Who is your teacher?" strikes fear in the hearts of kids everywhere. :)

Sheikh

I don't understand the sense of yarn shop.

Patron

cheerleader then!

Yarn shop.

Puppet Master, must be a leader in every sense!

A Swami, being celibate, channels sexual energy to reach God and Enlightenment. How is that for a dollar?

swami then?

A guru's a clever person, not necessarily the head dude. I'm not convinced yet.

Take me to your Guru.

:=(

great comment, bilby. i'm writing about the holocaust this week so that's exactly what's in my head too.

wait... Hey! Get out of my head!!

If I was going to spend double bullet holes on der Fuehrer I'd put them in him, not above :-(

sorry you got that one just with an ue

führer?

Thanks sionnach. We can always count on you to make timely and useful suggestions for any list!

skipper? monarch? liege lord? evil overlord?

or shepherd? depending on who's asking.

janitor?