There are non-communist examples. In fact there is a good example of this in a country that was itself communist but the cult of personality was on non-communists. In Bulgaria, the revolutionaries of the 19th century who fought to liberate their people from Ottoman rule are revered very highly. Vasil Levski and Hristo Botev are the 2 most well known leaders. There are hundreds of statues of them all over the place and people want to build more. All governments - liberal, conservative, fascist, communist, social Democrat etc - in the last 150 years speak of them and regard them as martyrs and no one dares to speak ill of them. A few years ago some were even talking about canonising them, though the latter(but probably also the former) expressed strong anti-religious sentiments in his writings.

People who struggle need someone to look up to. The idea of a great political leader makes one feel that their life is in good hands. The cult of personality often embodies the ideal people aim for. That's how I see it.

Back to Bulgaria, Levski was voted the greatest Bulgarian of all time a few years ago, but his life wasn't black and white. The organisation he ran had a secret police that would visit the home of every local feudal lord in every town and village and directly order them to support and finance their efforts. Anyone who attempted to disrupt or disagree was killed. At one point Levski took it upon himself to go and kill a landlord who threatened to snitch to the Turks. Jumped the fence late at night and came across a young servant who tried to tackle him, a fight ensued resulting in the death of the 14 year old servant. Levski was later caught and hanged. The communists are often criticised for political repression(mainly against fascists) and for running a secret police, but dare to call Levski a "child killer" or "dictator" and you won't be able to get a job in Bulgaria sweeping the streets to save your life. Of course Levski wasn't actuslly a "child killer"; he happened to (probably by accident) stab a teenage boy while attempting to prevent a boot licker from helping to perpetuate the oppression of his own people in return for some wealth and power and violence was just a necessary part of struggling for one's freedom in the Ottoman empire 200 years ago.