Muad’dib was a natural leader. People tended to see him as a leader even when he had nothing. There is something to the notion of “he said he’s not the messiah. That’s exactly what the messiah would say!”

Maud’dib also exploited the native peoples for his own benefit. The series past the first book is about how awful the result of that was.

To bring this into real life, where you end up leading people is important.