Linchpin

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Linchpin: Device for holding a wheel on an axle.
Keystone: Mainstay.

Linchpin or keystone can be used to describe a critically important person who is a part of a larger unit. Steve Jobs has had to leave Apple, at least for awhile, due to health issues. It is widely thought that he holds the company together and that after a period of buttressing, Apple will have to go out of business if Steve Jobs does not return.

It does not speak well of a leader that he leaves his unit helpless when he is not there. A good leader develops his unit so that it is healthy whoever leads it after he is gone. I have read that John McCain's squadron fell apart after he left. If he had developed it properly it would have become self-sustaining and it would not matter much who was in charge.

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