Leadership Question #2

Driftan Housan

30-09-2010 13:55:08

Hey all,

Since I'm a sucker for leadership theory, I thought I would throw out another question for discussion. If this is interesting to any number of people, I might make it a recurring things. Thanks for anyone who responds.

Question: When looking at a position to fill, would you prefer to give the position to an established veteran who has proven himself but is perhaps coming back from a leave of absence, or a new, up and coming member who is still looking to prove themselves?

Halcyon

30-09-2010 15:43:38

In a perfect world, we would be filling positions with "newer" members, rather than recycling the veterans. Similar to your previous topic, with all things being equal, a newer member will generally get chosen over a returning veteran. I do know that on the DC level we have really tried to push leadership development. However, the sad fact is we do not have a lot of capable members to do the jobs that are needed (one of the reasons we dropped down to Houses from Clans).

I'm a big fan of getting new blood in leadership positions, and recently we have seen a lot of the current House Summit being run by younger leaders. As long as they are able to do the position, I am all for it. A decent idea is to also have an older member help out in the leadership job, just as a safety net in case something should happen, as well as teaching this newer leader and ins-and-outs of the position.

However, a veteran leader should never be discounted, especially if they have the drive and determination for a position. Never discount a veteran just because they've been there before.

Personally, I will generally stay away from the "normal" leadership positions. Before getting Voice, the positions I did take were just transitional...I applied or was given a job to stabilize it for someone else. I was not in it for the long-haul, and that is a skill that a veteran can bring to any position. Need a quick fix? Bring in a vet. They will generally know what needs doing in the short-term, leaving things in a good position for someone else to take and run with.

So to sum up...new leaders are good, but vets still have their place :P

Eiko

30-09-2010 16:49:43

I'm speaking of the recent swap over in Revan, but I'm still a "new leader" in most senses of the word. With two veterans working with me, it gives me some of that balance that Halc mentioned.

I am learning and figuring things out, but I'm also not stuck out on my own trying to figure things out by trial and error.

Just in some of the other times I've been in leadership (RL), I think that groups grow the best when you find the balance between motivation to lead and experience in leadership. If we have an experienced leader at the front of a project, then you can counterbalance with motivated assistants who want to learn. If you have an inexperienced but motivated leader, then counterbalance with solid experience that will keep things "level minded" and such. I haven't really seen a spot where there is just one leader - usually, it's a leadership team (especially in this club).