To get over 50 esteemed elders you need to have a specific island event to happen to a village elder. But what is the odds of that island event happening to your elder??

LOL And you are not ranked on the leader bored because everyone on the leader bored has 51+ elders. For your crack to be on leaderboard you need to just have a villager master 3 skills and hope that specific island event happens for you.