Are You An Administrator Or Leader?

Are you up on British politics, reader? Of course you are! Who can ignore it? The British successfully demonstrate everything that is right and wrong with a free democracy on a daily basis. However, I won't be talking about expenses scandals or right-wing extremists getting TV air-time today. Instead, I want to focus on the people making big decisions and how that applies to guild leading.

Tony Blair is the former Prime Minister who now makes a very good living both as a motivational speaker and, ironically, a United Nations Peace Ambassador. Gordon Brown is the incumbent Prime Minister and served under Blair as Chancellor for the duration of Labour's time in power. Despite Blair not having an ultra-political background (especially when compared to those of similar standing in the Conservatives - the opposing party) he has enjoyed an unprecedented rise to power. Prior to gaining influence in the Labour Party, it's obvious that he exhibited true leadership qualities. It goes beyond simply being charismatic; Blair had, and still retains, the capacity to be persuasive and calm in the face of danger - a quality that even Star Trek says is important in authority figures. They are all also attributes I try to get you to emulate. I don't care if you think Blair's a complete twat; he's gotten away with taking an entire nation to war on nothing but spin and rhetoric. That's an amazing feat which makes the fact he appointed Brown as his successor even more remarkable - in a bad way.



The Scot is almost the polar opposite of Blair. He's portrayed as inarticulate, incompetent and moody by almost every press establishment and newsroom commentator. He's constantly snarling and looking downright unhappy. I'd be pissed off too if I caused a recession, but this bloke truly is King Pessimist. By not setting a good example for the country people are beginning to despise him. Gordon isn't a leader and, as such, has failed to sufficiently rally support behind his party. Labour will tap out at the next election.



So how is any of this relevant to guilds on your favourite MMO? Well in Britain, Brown is the natural administrator and Blair is the obvious leader. When they occupied these designated roles the government ran like Usain Bolt. Brown managed affairs but Blair was cabinet's mouthpiece. This combination worked for an entire decade so maybe it's worth reflecting on your own organisation in the same way.

Are you a leader or administrator? Blair or Brown? Kirk or Spock? Robin Hood or Friar Tuck? Do you like to pull the puppet strings from the back seat, or take charge from the front? It's pretty easy to tell if your guild runs by your will or the rules your faux bureaucracy has implemented. If the former is the case, then you're a leader. If the latter is the case, then you're an administrator. Simple.



The truth is that it doesn't matter if you're one or the other, but I will say this: Always have appropriate counterpart and make sure it's someone you get along with. Just as House has Wilson, a loud, free-speaking leader needs an administrator to keep him or her grounded. Conversely, the anal administrator requires a wildcard to think outside of the box.

The presence of this balance of personalities ensures your bigger team of officers runs smoothly. The important thing is to appoint a deputy that you trust and have patience for. Someone that contests your authority at every turn is someone you don't need. However, by having your own little administrator or natural leader you'll find both of you figure out unique solutions to the guild's issues.

In summary:

• You may think yourself a true leader, but don't be scared to reflect on your true character.

• Recruiting a counterpart is a risk and try to get someone you've known for more than ten minutes.

• If you get the balance right, you can expect to rule for a thousand years (or until your subscription ends).

[I got the pictures from here, here and here.]

Professionalism

You are not a rock star.

Until your guild is the best in the world, you have no right to act like you are God's gift to WoW or whatever MMO you choose to play. In fact, if it was the best in the world, you would have certainly realised that there are better things to worry about than how big everyone thinks your e-penis is. Having an ego made of glass is not productive. Neither can you start crying when your guild doesn't follow you to the ends of the Earth/Azeroth/New Eden simply because you demanded them to. Believing that people should respect you without giving them a real reason to first is selfish, unrealistic and immature. Displaying such characteristics will only attract idiots to your guild. No one wants that.

There will be a time when you can snap your fingers and your entire online member-base will come running. Expecting such behaviour off the bat, however, is foolish. Dealing with people online is a lot different to managing them in the real world. There's a reason why popular retail brands have terrible conversion rates when it comes to Internet sales. There's a reason why Downing Street ban people from making comments on all their videos on YouTube. People are not harder to deal with online, but definitely different. On our planet, people are motivated by factors such as money and self-gain. Companies keep their employees in-check by providing these elements, in return for productivity. What are you offering people if not money? Initially, nothing. With nothing to restrain people, they go crazy. Consumers won't buy from brands online if they're less expensive in the shops and self-proclaimed political pundits will take full advantage of anonymity and will say exactly what they feel about the government, so long as they don't show their face or real name.

Would you be able to get half a million signatures from people off the street? No, because the everyman in real life is a coward, or would simply think you're nuts. Online, however...

There's a point to all this. You can't simply pay people gold in order to get their loyalty. Believe me; I've tried. Even relying on epic gear to keep players in the guild will not be enough sometimes. What happens when summer hits, and people start to go on holiday? If you have no other hold over them, then the people who stay around to play will look elsewhere for raiding fulfilment. By the time the rest of the guild returns from sunning themselves in different parts of the world, there won't be enough members left to continue raiding. Well-run guilds take measures to negate such downturn, like recruiting excessively before summer, or officially declaring raiding over until September. However, at the end of the day, you're going to have to use innovative techniques to get people to stick by you. Being in a guild is never perfect for one hundred percent of the time. It's part of your job to keep people by your side, even when things are looking shitty. This is an art.

It starts with being professional. A lot of people say that you shouldn't treat leading a guild like a job, and be as casual as you want with members. I'm not saying act like an emotionless psychopath. You'll find that I recommend communicating and bonding with your guild on a very regular basis. Simultaneously, you must work hard to remain aloof from any drama that may personally affect you. Getting involved with things on a private level just so you can satisfy your bleeding heart doesn't help anything. If you're angsty, go make a blog or listen to My Chemical Romance. Lashing out just because someone has attacked you or one of your friends will do nothing but worsen your own reputation. When people start seeing you as a crazy megalomaniac who will do anything to protect his or her ego, you're screwed.

I'll apply this to a specific example: About a year ago I was leading a rather successful WoW guild on Defias Brotherhood, EU. In the space of a month we'd accumulated over one hundred and fifty members and had really some good vibes going on. One day, one of the founders decided to quit, with her last words in the chat being, 'I don't think much to this guild TBH'. Then she left, for no apparent reason. This particular female never really said anything much and only turned up to the occasional raid. All the same, when she bailed so abruptly with such a vague explanation it made me angry. 'Why!? Why!?' I'd ask. 'Why did you just leave!? If you don't explain yourself, then we can't find out what's wrong with the guild!' She ignored me and I never got to the bottom of why she quit. It infuriated me, though.

Arguments can occur over anything and everything at any time. Stay cool and keep indifferent.

As a result, I came off as an incompetent, out-of-control arsehole and made my guild look bad as a result. I shouldn't have cared that much, but I did and my clinginess led to me being silly. I'm not saying never care when someone quits, but if you don't get a response, then it doesn't matter. Always opt to cut your losses and save face over pursuing a pointless line of enquiry. Frequent open discussions with your guild should highlight any issues your members have. Running after members who have just quit is not going to get you any answers, which means trying to talk things through with them only spawns confusion and frustration.

The key thing to all this is staying laid back. Do not care about petty incidents. As Erik Von Markovik says in The Mystery Method, 'keep telling yourself that it doesn't matter. Soon enough, you'll start believing that nothing is ever 'a big deal''. Whilst TMM deals with picking up women, some of the content covers coping with rejection, too. Managing such behaviour is a key trait of staying in control, as you'll find yourself facing situations revolving around different types of rejection daily. Just tell yourself that it's not a big deal, and it won't be.

This is Mystery. He may look a bit weird, but fits a typical 'guild leader' archetype. Not only is he highly successful with women, but is also able to command legions of men, too. He has a calm, laid back personality which subtly requests respect, rather than demand it without earning first.

Professionalism is a form of damage control. If someone pisses you off, the last thing to do is act like an amateur and react negatively. Cool off, admit that something has gone wrong, and move on. Getting hung up on insignificant people is never the right way to go about things. If someone is pissing you off in your guild, then kick them. Offer a brief explanation before or after you boot them out if you wish, but stay calm. I'm all for people letting their own personality shine through, but if you're a hot-headed moron who accuses everyone else of being wrong and blows your top every time someone says something against you, then guild leading is not, and will never be, your forte. We all have our bad days sometimes, but that should never lead you to taking out your anger on others at the slightest provocation. A good leader knows when to go outside and get some perspective, and when to sit down to do their duty.

Staying cool and dealing with drama will allow you to disarm any situation. Ideally you don't want to kick everyone who starts causing trouble, but you really shouldn't be recruiting such immature idiots anyway. Performing in such a way will not necessarily guarantee that people will fall in love with your guild, but it will certainly buy you some respect and encourage them to act in a similar way. In later chapters, I'll discuss how you can get people to come to you with their problems before they even consider leaving, but for now keeping a clear head and an ego that actually reflects your position in the world will help massively.

If this strange clan can hold together in Dalaran's Underbelly, so can your guild. Just take it easy and keep to the right mindset.

This is all about setting an example. Having a positive-yet-realist attitude will allow others to follow suit. Keeping your nose clean and your allies happy will encourage your members to reprise such sentiments. On the flip side, don't go cybering in Goldshire or lashing out at random guildies. Not only is being caught out on such occasions embarrassing to you, but you're also giving your members permission to do similar things that could be harmful to your guild's reputation.

To summarise:

• Rise above petty people.

• Don't act like you're the leader of Ensidia; you're probably not and your guild is most likely still wiping in Naxx. It's fine to have ambition, but that doesn't mean you should act like a dick.

• Don't act like you're a fifteen year-old who hasn't got more pressing issues in his life than crying over people who insult him online.

• Know how to stay in control of your own emotions. When you're easily angered, it's difficult to diffuse other people's anger.

• Respect for you is going to be one of the key motivators for people to stay in your guild for the long haul. Managing member affairs successfully is a great way for you to gain respect.

• Set a good example.

[Image credit goes purely to myself and Wikipedia today!]

Banking

This chapter will focus on what to do with your guild bank, surprisingly.

One hundred gold is a lot of money. Give that amount to anyone below level twenty and they will love you forever. Or at least until they burn it all on enchantments and a mount later on. Even to a level eighty, it's still a lot of money. We have to train up professions, deal with repair bills and a multitude of other things. Why on Earth, then, should a guild master waste one hundred gold (or however much your respective game charges - but I'm going to focus on WoW) by creating a guild bank?


Now you may be thinking 'Hang on! Are you saying that we shouldn't have guild banks!?'. Reassuringly, I'm not suggesting anything of the sort. I actively encourage any organisation, regardless of size, to get a bank. Now Blizzard have finally implemented a way in which you can safely monitor the ongoings of such a useful feature, there is absolutely no reason why you can't take advantage of it. A good guild should be utilising a bank from the get-go, because if you're not, its a waste of a hundred gold. I insist that everyone should have access to at least one tab. The moment they join, they should be able to withdraw money and gold (even if it's only a stack of items and one gold per day).


You should tie in ranks with banking, too. The main monetary motivation behind people pursuing a promotion will be the ability to access more of the bank. Higher ranks should have greater freedom over the bank, from the amount of gold they can take out, to the tabs they can see. By giving people the right to withdraw from the moment they get into the guild will only make them want more and more. How do they get more? By contributing to the guild and pleasing you in order to rank up, of course! You are giving people an instant return for their own investment in the guild and loyalty builds as a result. Therefore, when it comes to them deciding if they want to stay in the guild or not, the bank (and how well it's handled) will weigh heavily in such an analysis.

However, if everyone has access to the bank from Day One, you're going to run into some security issues. These can be easily avoided if you follow these tips:

1. Keep an eye on the logs.

There are two logs which come with a guild bank. One tracks items whilst the other handles money. Anything that goes in or out will be detailed and it is your job to keep an eye on that information. By seeing what gets withdrawn, who withdraws it and at what time, you can find out a lot about your guild. Is someone using up their entire gold limit each day? Is someone else putting in a lot of gold without taking any out, and therefore actively demonstrating their allegiance to the guild? People should be sanctioned or rewarded for their guild bank activity as they would if they behaved well or badly during an event. Furthermore, checking up on the flow of money and items in the guild assures that their security is not compromised.

2. Don't be afraid to approach people if you see any abnormal activity.

Obviously if someone is blatantly stealing from the guild at any given opportunity, then kick them. However, such extreme measures can be avoided just by talking to problematic people. Send them a whisper (or mail if they're not online) stating kindly that you're not a charity, that they are expected to put back just as much as they take out and politely inquire as to what they're actually doing with all that money and/or items. A lot of people will simply not reply, but cease their negative actions outright. If they do not change their ways, kick them. The other side of this is if you see someone putting in a lot of useful goods, or boosting the gold coffers. Don't be afraid to congratulate an individual who is willing to sacrifice their own fortune for the good of the guild.

3. Keep the really valuable stuff locked away.

Anything that is of any real worth to the guild should be safely stored in the higher security tabs. Never give anyone other than yourself full access to the bank and only your most trusted members should have the ability to view and withdraw from all tabs. This works in the best interest of security and gives your lower ranking members something to work towards. No one can be totally trusted and I'm sure there's many testimonies out there about how a naïve guild master gave full banking privileges to a subordinate, only for them to totally empty the bank and transfer away from the server. Trust members, but always exercise a level of caution.


As for what exactly you should< keep in your guild bank; that's up to you. Since everyone appears to be respeccing their professions at a moment's notice nowadays, reagents for all purposes should be freely available. Don't worry about filling up your tabs the second you buy them, though. Remember that its a guild bank, and given the fact you've probably spent lots of money already on self-improvement to lead the guild efficiently, let your guildies fill up the storage with what they want. Obviously if your space becomes full of grey and useless items, then take action. Otherwise just let people do what they wish. Give people the freedom and the option to donate, and they will.

To summarise:

• Only open a bank if you're willing to let everyone use it.

• Everyone should have access from the moment they join, albeit a very small amount.

• The ability to make use of more parts of the bank is a huge incentive for people to fight over a promotion. This leads them acting in a way that is beneficial to you and the guild.

• Check your logs daily, in order to see who is withdrawing what and to make sure security is not compromised.

• Communicate. A guildie who donates gold should be rewarded, whereas one which takes without giving should be punished. Talk it over with troublesome individuals and try to find a solution.

[Image credits: The Piggy Bank pic, the Guild Bank Shot, that great picture of Northern Rock]