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Kanji for Leader
The kanji most commonly used for "Leader" are 長、将、首.
長
Kanji that mean Leader
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長
long, chief, elder
Onyomi: choh Kunyomi: naga.i, osa 8 strokes Jōyō
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将
general, about to
Also associated with to lead.
Onyomi: shoh, soh Kunyomi: hata, hiki.iru, masa, masani, motte 10 strokes Jōyō
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首
neck, head, leader
Onyomi: shu Kunyomi: kubi 9 strokes Jōyō
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頭
head, top, leader
Onyomi: to, toh, zu Kunyomi: atama, gashira, kaburi, kashira 16 strokes Jōyō
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雄
male, superior
Also associated with strong.
Onyomi: yuu Kunyomi: o, o.su, on 12 strokes Jōyō
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帥
commander, leader, general
Onyomi: sui 9 strokes Jōyō
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豪
excellent, strong
Also associated with leader.
Onyomi: goh Kunyomi: era.i 14 strokes Jōyō
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魁
leader, vanguard
Also associated with large.
Onyomi: kai Kunyomi: kashira, sakigake 14 strokes Jinmeiyō
長 is the ordinary word for the person in charge. It attaches to an organization to name its head — 社長 (company president), 校長 (school principal), 部長 (department head) — while its other reading gives 長い, long.
首 and 頭 both mean the physical neck or head and both extend to leadership. 首 gives 首相 (prime minister) and 首脳 (the top leadership of a country or company); 頭 gives 先頭 (the front of a line) and 頭取 (the president of a bank).
将 is the military leader — 将軍 (shogun, general), 主将 (a team captain). It also carries a sense of “about to”, which is how it lands in 将来 (the future). 帥 is narrower and grander: the commander of an army, as in 元帥, a field marshal.
雄 means male, and reaches leadership through excellence and standing out, as in 英雄 (hero). 魁 is the one who charges out ahead of everyone else, a vanguard.
Before you use Leader kanji
長 is the plain choice but reads as a job title — the head of some organization — or simply as "long". 将 reads as a general and is the strongest single character here. 首 and 頭 will be read first as neck and head, which is rarely the intended effect.