Week3: Thoughts on Discussion on Wednesday

We discussed two questions on Wednesday’s class and in my group, we mainly talked about first one, that is, “What can be (done?) of being a “visible” leader in your club” or such (I’m not really sure the exact question sentence, but anyways it was like “What makes leaders being ‘Visible’ or things like that”.). We concluded that there are mainly four characteristics among “visible” leaders. That is, Skill, Knowledge, Attitude, and Effort.

1. Skill

I and one another student said that some leaders show their presence by means of their good skill or ability to do something. For example in my case, leaders in the brass band club had an enough ability to play a musical instrument, and because they had such a skill, other members kind of trusted him/her. It was like a “Charisma”. But of course it is not enough for a leader to have just a good ability to do certain thing and more specifically, it is not always required to have such a skill as well.

2. Knowledge

Other two students suggested that knowledge was also one of the characteristics of “visible” leaders. One of them told that his group leader did not have a great skill, but he knew the sports well. I felt that it made sense because if a leader has much information and gives much advice, I see his/her presence as a leader and eventually I tend to trust him/her. Thus, having sufficient knowledge can lead a “visible” leader.

3. Attitude

All of us agreed that attitude, especially sincere attitude, was important for a “visible” leader. This is because if a leader is always sincere or honest, many people feel that it is worth while trusting him/her. Moreover, I assume that to keep paying attention to a whole group can be another key attitude of a “visible” leader. Such person should be reliable and by giving a careful attention to the group, he/she will show his/her presence.

4. Effort

It is also required to keep on making efforts for being a “visible” leader we discussed. One student introduced her own story that when she went to a gym (or a place to practice), she always found her leader being there. The leader makes efforts all the time and it is obviously “visible” and even inspiring. That is why, making an effort will be one of the characteristics of “visible” leader and I, as a sub-leader at my club, keep doing so in my mind.

Now, I found that the word “trust” appeared in almost each paragraphs. This means that the trust or being trusted from other group members can be one more important point for a “visible” leader. It is quite interesting that I noticed one more key character after the discussion. Writing a blog is not just a record, but it might be a review I felt.

Tomorrow is Coming of Age day, and I will attend the Coming of Age Ceremony tomorrow as well. I am looking forward to seeing my friends from elementary school or junior high school, though that means I have no time to prepare my research proposal…..alas!