“You aren’t a gadol hador, and therefore it isn’t up to you to decide what is a prerequisite of achieving that title”
Agreed. Throughout our history, gadolim with long-term relevance have not been insular and have managed to maintain and reinforce the relevance of daas torah for their times w/o the need for sudden reversals or inexplicable deviations from their predecessors. Most importantly, our gadolim have always seemed to be adept at discerning which of their predecessors are the ones to look to for guidance.