Recently, there’s been discourse online surrounding the idea that friend groups should have leaders. Some are questioning the validity of the idea while some are defending it.
Critics claim those who would identify as subordinates in a friend group are sycophants, and those who identify as leaders are psychopathic social climbers.
These detractors fail to realize that all human beings in social interactions tend to fall into a hierarchy. This is the natural way of ordering things and making sure that everyone knows their role.
Having a boss in every friend group is important. Picture a scenario in which a group of friends is deciding where they should eat. The decision, in this case, falls on the leader. Some members of the group may have a problem with the decision, but it’s much better than the alternative. Without a leader, the group members would argue incessantly, never arrive at a decision and ultimately starve to death.
If a group is in public and an outsider comes along starting trouble, there has to be someone to protect the rest of the group, and also a leader to tell the protector to do so.
Imagine a group of friends is out and they see a potential romantic partner deemed desirable by multiple members of the group. Groups with a designated leader handle this situation easily. The captain gets first dibs. Without a leader, the members of the group would fight like cavemen and be thrown out of whatever venue they were in.
If there were no commanders of friend groups, who would the other members build a shrine to and refer to as “dear leader”? Whose mannerisms and sayings would the members try to emulate? Who would the members carry on their backs while the others fanned the leader and fed them grapes?
Every great group has a leader. Take Captain America, for instance. Without him, the Avengers wouldn’t even be able to stop shoplifters. And what could be a better example of how to live life than movies and comic books made for children?
Leaders are essential. Anyone in a friend group without a leader should do their best to become one. Now, reaching that height requires training. It’s been said that the average leader has completed the entire training montage from “Rocky” in real-time.
Prospective leaders should also be trained to be mean to their lackeys. Consuming thousands of hours of stand-up comedy and television shows from the ’90s should help the insults be more humorous to others, making the jab all the more hurtful and reinforcing one’s claim as top dog.
Future leaders should also take financial literacy classes given that they’ll be handling all of their servants’ money. Allocating their money correctly is a great way to increase your group’s standing.
There are many roles in a friend group; snack retriever, secretary, whipping boy; however, the leader is the most important. Anyone who says that having a friend group leader is a stupid idea that only exists in high school movies and is not the backbone of all human interactions is not to be taken seriously.
Frank Kidd is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Springfield, VA.