Is Juan a Good Leader?

Juan elected himself to be team leader and began calling meetings. I believe that approach was great and should not be criticized. Bringing people together and taking charge or showing you have the will to take charge is good. It was also good that he considered the other members ideas for the program. Everyones opinion matters when you lead. So you ask yourself how did Juan fail at being a leader?

Well He failed to communicate the focus and the scope of what need to be completed. The brainstorming was good but it was one of many dominos that fell in this story. Because Juan never clearly explained to his group members that the goal was to sponsor educational outreach and peer tutoring to chemistry majors. This left them shooting blanks as I would call it. Which is why they ended up with ideas like buying a bench and putting on a concert. Both having nothing to do with the main goal. When the group members got frustrated over what they role was once again you can blame it on Juan because it was his job to explain all of this and keep a focused train of thought for the entire group.

When you are the leader it is crucial to communicate the main purpose to your peers. Another thing I might add is that the leader must understand the purpose himself before he can communicate it to others. It seems to me that Juan did not have a clear idea of the goal because he allowed the group to agree on a concert that had nothing to do with the goal.

Knowing your budget is also key. Juan and his peers just dreamed up the money for a concert that was supposed to just happen I suppose because when he told them it was a go they must have believed they could do it. Knowing your pockets is being realistic when facilitating and conducting events. You can not say yes to your peers and then say no especially over money. This is why they were frustrated probably in part.

Juan is not the worst leader he just did not have a clear vision and without a clear vision and understanding of what needs to be down how can you expect anyone else to. You can not communicate what you do not know yourself. This is why the group failed.