Can I become a good leader? Originally, I was not good at being leader but good at supportive position (and I still believe it though). But so far, I was expected to be a leader by surroundings many times. In fact, I was a president in four clubs at Waseda when I was a junior. But I didn窶冲 hate it, far from that, I enjoyed the 窶徘residential life.窶� It was busy though, I had a really good time.

However, it doesn窶冲 mean that I am good at being a leader. Although the environment might have made me a good leader, I still doubt if I should be a leader. Today, I would like to talk about the leadership analysis, then, I will judge if I am a good at being a leader or not.

According to Bale窶冱 analysis, there are several elements to be a good leader in a small group. I would like to explain myself comparing with my conversation partner, Gen. We rated the score for each question.

First of all, to get the group窶冱 task done, the leader should be good at giving information and asking for information. Giving information is to explain, summarize, and to make suggestions. Both of us are good at these skills (7). On the other hand, both are not good at asking for information. Comparatively, I am good at asking for details or clarification (6), but using hypothetical question is difficult for me (4). Sometimes no other examples come up my mind when I try to explain something. Gen is good at hypothetical questions (7), on the contrast. I agree with him, he is really good at telling stories and explaining something anytime.

Secondly, to hold the group together as a group, the leader should be good at reinforcing something to members.
From the positive viewpoints, the leader is expected to encourage members. To accomplish this goal, the leader should acknowledge the individual concerns, clarify the disagreement among the members, and recognize the individual contributions to the group. I am good at acknowledgement (6) and recognition (5), but not good at clarification (4). Gen is good at clarification (6) and acknowledgement (5), but not good at recognition (4). Clarification will be important because disagreement among the small group could raise a fatal misunderstanding. The leader is also required praising members saying something positive such as good job or good idea. But I am not so good at saying these (5). Gen also told me the same thing (6).
On the other hand, from the negative viewpoints, sometimes it is needed for leaders to set rules, chastise violations, enforce limits or standards. Basically, I don窶冲 like negatives, especially when I am a leader. I always try to think everything positive. If something negative comes up my mind, I hardly tell it to someone else. Therefore, it cannot be helped to rate these lower. I rated all 4. This means if it is needed to do something negative, I will do it. Gen feels it almost the same way. But when it is necessary, he will set understandable rules (6), enforce standards (7). He doesn窶冲 like to chastise violations (5) and enforce limits (1). He rarely does it otherwise it is needed.

As I talked above, to be a leader, it is necessary for me to learn how to hold the group together as a group both positively and negatively. Praising members are good way, preventing the conflicts could be necessary, sometimes setting rules or enforcing limits would be a good strategy. It might be important to do negatives even if I don窶冲 like as a good leader. Both of us don窶冲 like to be a leader, but if we had a chance to be a leader, I would like to care about these points, and then, I want to try to be a good leader.