Be yourself

Age can play a roll. Young children (at least til about 12 years old) usually still have great faith in adults and can easily be pulled out of a negative mental spiral by a father or mother figure. Teenagers are often more difficult to motivate and need a leader who understands them, motivates them and gives them responsibilities. Once a teenager is won over he or she will often want to go on longer and further than anyone else. Older adults (from about 50 years old) often have the disadvantage that they are no longer physically as able as they used to be. Their advantage lies (hopefully) in having more life experience, better judgement of character and being more patient. They also can act as substitute parents or take up the roll of caring grandparent.

Differences in gender also have different effects. Women are generally known to be mentally stronger than men but tend to suffer from depressions more often. Keep their spirits high and they'll pull everyone through. Men are generally physically stronger and thus able to accomplish certain tasks faster or better but that doesn't mean that women couldn't do the same task! Women often also have an eye for the other people in a group and often sense earlier that something is at hand. We can dismiss the stereotypical view of the screaming, panicking woman. Women might show their fear earlier and might be more willing to give in to it than men but they also learn faster how to live with that fear, even to the point of overcoming it. Many (if not most) men have great difficulty admitting they are afraid. Those who can and do admit it are often looked down upon by the other men. Men also have a tendency to join the action when pushed a little by the other men; peer pressure can be an ugly thing. When whipped up into action, men tend to heed danger very poorly, have virtually no ear for better ideas or judgements and can easily fall victim to a dangerous situation.

Women who step up as a leader often find resistance from men, while hardly from other women. It thus often happens that the group is lead by a man but that a woman speaks up for the women and children and the less "powerful" men in the group. If a group is to survive the situation, the leading man better be sensible and balanced and not afraid to listen to critique and suggestions coming from the group and particularly from women.


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