It is better to be a member of a group than to be the leader of a group
Many people believe that it is better to be the leader of a group than to be a member. I,however, think the reverse is true for the following reasons.
First, being a member of a group means you do not get as much pressure as you are a leader. You only need to worry about accomplishing your work perfectly and do not have to care about other members. Therefore, you always feel pleasant and can complete your work more easily. This do not happen when you are the leader because the much pressure you get, the less work you can do.
Second, since you are only a small factor of a whole team, you can cooperate with others in a much easy way. You can make friends with your co-workers by inviting them to a party or even to a date. Therefore, you can strengthen your relationship with people whom you work with everyday. I myself experienced this. I still remember the first time I worked for my dad’s company. He offered me to choose either to be a member or a leader. I decided to take the former choice. After a while, I felt no regret about my decision. It was totally great to be a member. I had lot of time making friends with my co-workers and soon we became good companions. If I had chosen to be the leader, I would not have had the chance to get to know so many people.
I have heard enough such great things about the benefits when you are a leader such as fame, money and reputation. Nevertheless, I strongly believe it is much better to be a member of a group rather than a leader because of the little pressure and the chance to make friends with a lot of people. Therefore, if you are promoted to be a leader of a group, you might want to consider refusing it.
TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between a university professor and a student in the professor’s office