"leading force behind" is a perfectly acceptable phrase that can be used in written English.
It is usually used to refer to a person, group, or organization responsible for inspiring or driving a particular effort or initiative. For example: "The board of directors was the leading force behind the company's successful expansion into international markets."
He was also a leading force behind the rise of affluent, western-style suburbs ringing Cairo.
Farage, a leading force behind the vote to leave the EU, has ridiculed the suggestion.
Through his positions, Duffy has been a leading force behind the exchange's ongoing evolution as well as its increasing prominence in the U.S. and globally.
"It has changed our culture," roared Bob Vander Plaats, a conservative activist and leading force behind the campaign, heaping criticism on the court's decision.
As a recent college graduate, Griffin was a leading force behind Governor Perry's foray into Facebook during his 2006 re-election bid.
No one had told him anything, not even about the rumours going around," wrote Cardinal Dziwisz, the leading force behind John Paul's remarkably fast canonisation.
The church's message on homosexuality has evolved since it was one of the leading forces behind California's Proposition 8, a ban on gay marriage approved by voters in a referendum but then overturned in a case that went all the way to the US supreme court.
Hell, earlier this month even Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, one of the leading forces behind the plebiscite, admitted that he predicts the outcome will be Yes.
The church's stance toward gays has softened considerably since it was one of the leading forces behind California's ban on gay marriage in 2008, but high-ranking leaders have reiterated time and again the faith's opposition to same-sex unions.
Working under the leadership of IBEW Local 18 business manager Brain D'Arcy, McCloud was the leading labor force behind execution of the UPCT program.
Both creatures are the conception of François Delarozière, the artistic director and leading creative force behind La Machine, a theater company that works with technicians and designers to fabricate mechanical creatures on a vast scale and creates public spectacles around them.
