I thought this was a nice summary of the Daas Torah view on Gedolim:
The Jewish Observer, June 2006, Volume XXXIX No. 5 p. 31
Shlomo Gottesman - “Nothing is hard if you will it”: Travels with Rabbi Aaron Leib Shteinman שליט"א
“Zeh sefer toldos haAdam.” The Midrash explains that the Ribbono shel Olam showed Adam every generation and its leaders: dor dor umanhigav. Those manhigim, sometimes not well-known until they step in to leadership positions, were imbued from creation with a special siyata dishmaya and the foresight to see the complex exigencies of Jewish history on a multi-dimensional plane. Their vision necessarily includes the future implications of current decision making, with all the attendant subtle ramifications. In the merit of the tzibbur and the Torah, they are given the strengths and skills to shoulder the awesome achrayus that comes with their position. We might not always be privy to or understand their thought process, but our confidence in them is the raison d'etre of emunas chachamin, and one of the bedrocks of our theological structure.
