Sometimes there is someone else who wants to lead but can't due to political reasons. You can try supporting them. Little things like seconding someone's ideas can go a long way. At least in the place I work at.

Most often the answer is yes, unfortunately. If you have options make use of them.

If you have to stay, it helps to try and make your team a nice place to be. I remember a manager that would organize team lunches and would give Fridays off (unofficially) making the team an oasis in the middle of a corporate desert. But I can’t imagine it was easy for him to deal with a dysfunctional leadership and coworkers…

Take the stoical approach. Focus on what's in within your locus of control and ignore everything else.

I've come to the same conclusion in recent years. What you can do is optimize your end of work so the dysfunction impacts you less and less. Alot of work is really just BS that nobody wants to touch, but ends up on somebody's desk. Someone just has to bite that apple and document the hell out of it, make playbooks, automate and delegate. You can get management support for putting responsibility where it should be ("shift left"), while you answer questions, direct people to references and generally empower those around you.

So either you become your island and power on from your base, or you become part of the dysfunction as a leader. Leaders who succeed in this are rare enough they write books about it, most of it fiction..

There is often room for personal initiative in such cases; do what you can, make sure to not try to do more than you can, and be happy with it.

not every situation can be fixed

Find the/a leader, make sure they can secure your interests, empower them?

Unless you're being paid to coach the leader, this is just work their boss should be doing and which you're doing for free.

Right.

They asked what can you do besides leaving.

Should just leave.