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Rank and title is misleading. I’m a training director but no one is obligated to do what I tell them unless they report into me. Plus, some people have more elevated titles than me, but don’t have my scope or responsibility. So just getting that out of the way. I agree that someone needs to be accountable per se, but I think the group is accountable not the individual. You don’t want to discourage new ideas. 
I have someone on my team who is a leader without a title in a way. She has tons of ideas and is a great coach to other team members. But we all agree on how we approach certain projects, so if something goes south, it’s me first who explains to leadership why it didn’t work and then as a group we evaluate and course correct.
I have seen basic workers that have better leadership skills than managers. And yes, leadership requires skills, mostly social skills.
Which is why ranks are fundamentally flawed, because someone who has no idea how to do something but still has higher rank can tell the person who is leagues more experienced than them how to do their job. Which is the most infuriating thing in existence.
Sure, some structure is necessary, but overall the "managers" should leave the actual experts alone and let them do their job. >

I agree with you, although it is connected more to my other opinion than about the necessity of rank and titles. IMO, leaders... that is official leaders with rank and title, should come from those who they supervise. The editor in chief should be an editor, the sales manager should be a salesperson, the chief technology officer should be an engineer, etc. That way, we can avoid this higher ranking person with no idea how to do a job telling others who to do their job. >

You don't need a title to be a leader.
But an organization needs to give a rank and title to those they trust to lead.
You can even argue that a leader should know how their rank and title, along with those of others, affect their organization and distribution of responsibilities when things go south. >

Indeed. Leadership in general needs no title. But for an organization, or even just a small team working towards an objective, there should really be an official leader.