Members vs. leader
One of the most frequently confronted situations of modern life is to be included in a group as a member or to strive for the leadership of a group. A member will have to follow the leader’s order, an argument goes, but he will feel less pressure, thanks to fewer responsibilities. I’m afraid I can hardly agree with this argument as far as it goes. For me, two advantages of the leadership stand out with great force.
Firstly, common senses lead us to the conclusion: a leader is the core of a group or an organization and has the supreme power in it. Winner of the competitive elections, a leader meanwhile wins the authority of dealing with the affairs within the group in his own way. Generally speaking, everyone will hope that his personal point of views can be adopted to solve certain problems. When it comes to members of a group, they may feel free to propose an extraordinary variety of suggestions. No matter how proper they may be, it depends on the leader to turn them into final decisions or just to deny it. A CEO, the head of a company, for example. No subordinate dare start a project or invest in a program without his permission. In contrast, the CEO will take risks in an unpredictable deal, providing he considers it worthwhile. Obviously, whether a leader or not would make a difference.
And secondly, a leader can make the best of his position to have his working abilities and social skills developed. Just recall our personal experiences, which will support my statement about the second advantage, a more important one. As we grow from children into teenagers, we are proud of organizing a football match or being the key figure of a game; as we leave adolescence behind and enter adult life, we are eager to play a vital role in campus activities or clubs. But why? The very reason is that we believe it wonderful opportunity to prepare ourselves for future careers by communicating with the people in and out of the group and conquering the difficulties facing the group. And so is the fact. An example is my uncle’s success as a businessman. Enthusiastic about being the leader of any group he joined, say, monitor of his class, he was always more self-confident than his peers and his outstanding abilities in management won him good reputations.
I think that such a closer look at the subtle advantages of being a leader offers some startling surprises to those advocates of being a member of a group. Why do you still confine your attention to the temporary relaxed feeling of a member? Why not seek for the benefit in the long run as a leader? Please join us, and another prominent leader will probably come into being among us.
