I don’t know so much about their background, I guess I’m open to options there. It’s the personality traits and values that would make me follow someone potentially into cult territory:

• personable, charismatic
• supports personal freedoms (for themselves and their followers, ideally also for non followers too)
• has a sense of personal responsibility too, so, in layman’s terms if you screw up you own up to it and deal with the consequences, deities don’t absolve you
• is not a sex predator of any sort (seems like predatory behavior is overrepresented among cult leaders for some reason, big red flag)
• bonus points if they have a theatrical flair