expression
better to be the head of a small group than the tail of a large one; better to be a big fish in a small pond
Proverb advising that it is better to be a leader in a modest position than a follower in a grand one. The literal image is 'better to be a chicken's beak than a cow's rear end.'
大企業で平社員より、小さな会社でリーダーになる方がいい。まさに鶏口となるも牛後となる勿れだ。
It's better to be a leader in a small company than a rank-and-file employee in a big corporation. Truly, better to be the head of a chicken than the rear end of a cow.
A four-character idiom (yojijukugo) derived from the same proverb, used more compactly in writing.
A Japanese rendering of a classical Chinese proverb from the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji). The literal meaning contrasts a chicken's beak (a small but prominent part) with a cow's rear (a large but lowly part).