One of the things that has dogged me whenever I’ve been a guild leader is a desire to solve every problem that I am made aware of. Even outside of a leadership position, I tend to internalize every little thing that goes wrong.
I have high standards for myself, and when I find myself playing with people who don’t share those standards, I get frustrated. That’s bad enough in itself, but taking it a step further and trying to “fix” those people is completely futile. I’m rarely going to be successful, and when my attempts fail, I’ll just get more frustrated.
Of course, I can’t take a completely laid back position – even if my personality would allow for it, there are some problems that guild leadership should address. There are valid performance and behavioural issues that leaders should raise and address when the see them. The skill lies in knowing what the scope of leadership covers, and what is not your problem to solve, even if you think you can help.
The core problem is a theme that’s come up before – trying to assert control over others. Too little leads to chaos, while too much leads to a guild nobody wants to be a part of. If you’ve ever felt that your guild was “slipping out of control”, you may be facing a mismatch between how much you want to control and how much you can.
Sometimes, the frustration with that gap gets turned inwards. Rather than the problem being unrealistic expectations, you see the problem as an inability to maintain order. At that point, the thing you enjoy becomes a chore.
The solution is to get realistic about what is and what isn’t the responsibility of guild leadership. From the pile of things that are the responsibility of the guild, figure out what you are capable of doing and what needs to be delegated. Don’t get pulled into things that aren’t the guild’s problems.
Simple advice, but if it were so obvious and easy to follow, I’d have no reason to write this post. So let’s take a look at some of the issues that you might encounter as a guild leader:
Retention
You can’t expect to keep every one of your members forever. Guilds are by definition a collection of like-minded but not identically minded individuals. Everyone sacrifices a few ideals when they join a guild in exchange for the benefits that the guild offers them.
Some people will, against their better judgement, give up more than they really want to, and allow this to fester over time. Over time, subtle things in the guild may change, or a new policy may be introduced which push them past their breaking point – when the sacrifice seems too much.
So long as you aren’t actively making policies to antagonize specific people, or going out of your way to alienate members, this isn’t your fault. Some people will be happier elsewhere, and the best thing to do is part company on a friendly note in case they come to regret their decision and you need their class/spec.
