Of late, I have been getting a few questions about leadership. These are my thoughts on the subject.

I recently picked up a book called “You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader: How Anyone, Anywhere, Can Make a Positive Difference” and also recommended to my wife to read as well. Ultimately what it summarizes to is that you do not need a title (officer) to be a leader. The book is a good read.

At this moment in SHO’s history, we have quite a few very strong characters in the guild and some are rather vocal.  There’s nothing wrong with that. If you pay enough attention to vent, what you will notice is that there are a few voices that are pretty consistent but they all have different intonations.

Some may sound irritated. Some may sound frustrated. Some sound like they’re having a good time. Some sound like they fell off their bed versus waking up on the wrong side. But among the voices, there are a few that stands out as voices with “power” or voices that you trust to follow and as a leader you want to encourage these voices.

These are the voices that I would associate with being in the leadership class. I am not talking about officers but folks whose intonations are nurturing, directive, supportive, encouraging, etc.. but in all very positive that you wish they would speak up more often. These same voices will follow direction as well as being able to give them.

One thing to remember is that toxic comments need to be discouraged unless you want to sponsor a toxic environment for your raiders.

Leaders are driven to learn and to take on roles that no one is willing to take and will “just do it” because it needs to be done. I believe that a good leader should be humble, assertive and should worry more about the group at large versus their own hide. They should never feel as if they are being held hostage in the decision making process because of the fear of the actions of a specific individual or groups of individuals, instead they should make decisions that benefit the whole.

A leader must also be a good follower and listener. They should recognize that sometimes they need to follow instead of trying to lead something they are not familiar with. Taking risks comes with the territory but make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Avoid being a control freak but strive to come to a win/win for everyone. Remember that sometimes giving a little can net you quite a bit more than what you started out with.

Leadership can be a lonely road sometimes because no matter what decision you make, someone is going to be unhappy. The thing to remember is that you have to balance what you know to be fair and what is fair to any other reasonable person. Any decision you make, you have to be able to live with. Having a “peer” group that understands you and is at the same maturity level as you is paramount. This is how I choose the officers. While they may not be as vocal or active, well rounded decisions are made behind the scenes that most folks without ochat access will never see.

The management team should be able to withstand arguments and disagreements. The last thing you want to happen is for the top to blow up and shake the foundations of the guild. So choosing ‘officers’ carefully and making sure they are able to work together is paramount. Disagreement at the top will happen, but when you have folks at the top quitting left and right, you are on shaky grounds. This is what happened with Sigil with promoting folks who are “good” at what they do versus folks who can work with you to lead.

No one single person can do everything. This is something that as a leader, you must recognize. Delegating and spreading the load is the key to success here. Making sure there are backups in case of vacations and etc is also important. Make sure things are ‘written’ down and/or posted somewhere that can be referenced by others.

One other thing to recognize is that sometimes it’s okay to shake the management up as well but it is very difficult to demote without hurting some feelings and possibly burning some bridges.

If you want to lead, you don’t need to be an officer to lead. Being a leader will net more influence than any
title will offer, titles for leaders will come over time. But titles should not be the only reason why
you should contribute because what happens after you reach the title? What’s next? You should lead because you want to but never because of a title. Titles are empty and hold no real meaning, it is people who hold the influence even though sometimes titles do make it easier.

So go out there and be an influence for good.

Personality, I find this meaning from dictionary.com as what I attune to most;  the essential character of a person. English is my second language and my grammar can use a bit of work, so please excuse my poor grammar.

Over the years, I have talked to a good number of fellow guildies and ex-guildies.  One thing that seems to surround our discussions and even debates start with the definition of personality. I have found that often times the initial 1 hour is just establishing each other’s personality and character to each other. Both frantically typing very fast.

So to start off on the who I am and what are some of the defining things about my personality, lets start off with persistence. I am very persistent in trying to help drive the guild and make sure that it is driven in a fair way. Yes, sometimes I do know that I am being taken advantage of but I give a little to hopefully gain alot for the guild. I am very persistent in trying to keep my word.  I believe that my word is my bond and I am a broken man without my word.

As a GM of two guilds now, and taking officer positions prior. I have realistically been in 3 guilds my entire WoW Life. Each guild have their ups and downs, a good leader like a captain should be the last person off the ship and try to make sure everyone who is depending on him makes it out okay vs worrying about their own tails first. Frustration comes with the job of being a leader, how you deal with it is a tell tale sign of what folks can expect or able to rely on you when it counts for them. I aim to be there when it counts.

I have been told and fondly ridiculed that I should just let things die and stop carrying an unnecessary burden. For me, the only time when I feel like I am a burden is when I am not contributing. I don’t believe in taking a position where I am not doing anyone any good.

I tend to have a very optimistic outlook on life and things in general, there’s some pessimism in there also but the majority is very optimistic. There are a lot of folks that come and go or bump into over the course of your life. Many leave a mark and just as many leave nothing except a faint mirage of who they are and you struggle to remember who that person was. Despite my optimism, I do know when enough is enough.

In general, I’m a very forgiving person. Where I draw the line is when folks start to lie, I think that’s the utmost disrespect anyone can afford you; either in the real or virtual world. I tend to take this a little bit to the extreme. Maybe I need to lighten up here.

I am also not one to exaggerate, so I tend to tell things as they are which sometimes can be rather unflattering. Selling myself is one of those short comings that is  most likely cultural and it’s something I always struggle with. But I always stick to what I perceive to be the truth and not succumb to the lure of making things more than they really are.

One other tenet that I try to live by also is that people is a very important aspect of life. Regardless of how “unreal” a virtual world is, the people there make it real and folks have real emotions and feelings even behind an orcish facade or avatar.

I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while, to have a place to write down my thoughts about the Guild and World of Warcraft.

One of the things I wanted to do with this blog was to integrate the blog engine with the forum engine, at least for authentication. Ultimately I decided against it because of the antispam features the forum engine have. Maybe when I have some time I may write something that will bridge the two engines more seemlessly than what’s currently available today.