Hello there! I looove the leadership feat as an idea, and my first game being able to use it is coming up. One thing I've realized is that Cohorts are quite weak compared to the PC character, so I've picked two character's that don't really need to be in the fight. An Alchemist, and a Sorcerer.
How did I get two you may wonder? The Champion Mythic path has an ability called "Crusader" it gives you the benefits of the Leadership feat, and states you may take the leadership feat as well, doubling your score. Leadership also has a Mythic version, making those Cohorts Half your Mythic tier. (And later on, your ten highest level followers gain 1 mythic tier.)
My character is a Goblin rogue with the goal of proving "Goblins are people too." He's Neutral Good and is trying to form a society of the Downtrodden. Orcs, Kobolds, Goblins etc, that just want to get along.
He has a bag of holding, that he calls his "Goblin Bag". He keeps both his followers in there most of the time with the magic item "Bottle of Air" (That allows them to breath.)
In doing that, I can use his incredible mobility and Stealth to get around and then deploy them where it's best.
This is twofold. Number one, it makes it a Viable idea for my character to go on long scouting missions "alone" and number two, it keeps the cohorts from getting in the way of the other pcs during story portions.
The Goblin's are Twin Brother's and quite lazy. So they happily ride in the bag of their "Chief".
Though there is any number of reasons a Cohort with Darkvision would be fine with riding around in your Bag of Holding. (But someone unused to small dark places, like a Human, would probably find that quite uncomfortable.)
For the most part I themed the Sorcerer around tons of Fire Spells because he's a Goblin, and the Alchemist around Bombs. But he has the infusion discovery so he can hand out buffs to the party and my PC before the fight.
As for my followers, they're all working on building a village while their chief goes out and gains renown for Goblin kind by saving saving the world and getting tons of treasures.
Basically I'm going to be running a Kingmaker Campaign in the Background of our actual campaign.
PS: Something you should look at is the Psionics books. Primarily the Thrallherd Prestige Class. Which gains "Super Leadership" as a class ability, but loses or cannot have regular leadership.
I'm sure that, that class deserves at least a mention.