A true leader leads his soldiers into battle and does not remain at the rear.

[Among the traits required in a leader, Moses states:] “Who will go out before them” (Numbers 27:17). This means that he will not conduct himself in the manner of the kings of the nations of the world, who send out the lowly people to war while they sit in their palaces; rather: “Who will go out before them, who will come before them” (27:17). (Sifrei Zuta 27)