Using the strategies identified in Chap. 1 , this chapter explains how the first two personalist leaders, Lenin and Stalin, sought to build up their authority and consolidate their power. The principal strategy Lenin used was personal performance, where his personal authority was unchallenged, but this was assisted by the mobilisation strategy which gained particular potency at this time as a result of the institutional structure and the power it gave the broader elite. Policy was also important because major decisions had to be made at this time about the direction the new regime would take. The program of strategies Stalin adopted changed over the period of his rule, shaped in large part by whether he was a truly collective leader, a predominant leader or a dominant leader. Throughout, institutional control, personal authority and policy were paramount, with threat also being a continuing element. Most of the other strategies tended to be more important in the earlier stages of his rule.