Leadership

[Nrom Normandy]

In matters of style, swim with the current;

In matters of principle, stand like a rock.

- Thomas Jefferson

My first experience as a leader was training and overseeing interns in an Information Technology department that I worked in. I had been an intern myself a few years before that and I graduated from the same school that these students were recruited from. It was a rewarding experience for me since I was able to see the relationship from both sides. My interest in the concept of leadership and management was sparked at that point, and I've utilized and expanded upon these skills nearly every day since. This has included various professional gaming avenues with teams, guilds for many different MMORPGs, and at least in Second Life, with team-oriented scripting projects and my service in the Alliance Navy.

It wasn't until my time in the Alliance Navy that I really started to put my own thoughts down about leadership and the various skills that we learn and develop in our experiences as noncommissioned and commissioned officers in the military community. I also learned that leadership isn't restricted only to these ranks and positions; leadership is both required and expected of you once you attain a similar position in any military. This led me to believe that it is important that everyone understands the behaviors, qualities and activities that are involved in the practice of leadership. This will not only improve our effectiveness in our duties in the Ordo Imperialis, but this environment exists as a sandbox to test new strategies and practice skills with little to no penalty or cost to do so. Consider Second Life your training wheels, where you have the opportunity to test new 'soft' or social skills and encounter fewer consequences as the result of poor choices and mistakes.

Now we get to the main topic. What is leadership? Leadership is a concept that can be defined in multiple ways, and each one is correct when you take it in the appropriate context. Leadership can be defined as a process of social influence where one person can call on the support and aid of others in order to accomplish a common task. Another definition of leadership describes it as a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. A rather weak definition is that leadership is the activity of leading or the ability to lead. Ultimately you can identify that leadership is something that is done, that it is a social interaction with others, and that it ultimately has a goal that each individual involved in this interaction are trying to accomplish. By describing it this way, we can identify that leaders do things, they have goals, and their job is to try to get others to work together and complete these goals. This perspective may create the impression that the whole process is manipulation, but the truth is that successful leaders serve both their interests and the interests of others. As I continue along in this article, that truth will become more apparent.

Now that we have the definition out of the way, it's time to try and grasp at an understanding of the concept. In order to understand leadership, we must begin with what leadership is not. Leadership has nothing to do with hierarchy. This means it has nothing to do with your rank, authority, power and position. It is very likely you have seen effective commanders practice good leadership, and you've seen effective leaders possess command skills; leadership is not a part of the concept of command or even a principle to that concept. A leader will observe that there are personnel in Titan who are bored and they will decide to act on it. This leader will gather the bored individuals together and run a combat scenario either on the ground or in the kill house. Notice that I did not mention anything about this leader's rank, position, or authority. Anyone from E-1 and up can become the leader in this situation. It takes initiative and the integrity to follow through on plans.

Often when we think about leadership, the images and examples of great individuals in history will come to mind. We admire and appreciate these individuals, but often a common observation can be made when people describe them: we discuss their accomplishments. Once again this falls back to what I have said about leadership being an action. To truly understand leadership, you need to understand the essential nature of it: successful examples of the process of leadership involve the leader and their followers engaging in a reciprocal influence relationship in order to achieve shared goals and purpose. Leadership is really all about getting individuals to work together to get things done that may not have otherwise been completed, or they prevent things from happening that would have happened without their intervention.

You should continue to think about the historical leaders that appear in your mind. Not only will their accomplishments serve to guide you in making your own decisions, you will also find similarities in their actions when you consider many leaders at once. A deeper examination will yield many qualities, traits and skills which contributed to their success. The rest of this article will continue with many of the important ones that you should think about and incorporate into your leadership style.

You will find that all leaders are focused on accomplishing their mission. The first responsibility of every leader is to accomplish the task at hand. If a leader exhibits competent skills in all other categories, but they fail to accomplish the mission, they are a failure as a leader. This is especially important in the Ordo Imperialis. The individuals that we see as successful leaders are the ones who get things done. Any task they are given becomes a priority and as time moves on, there is no doubt that it will be completed. Leaders will do everything they can to direct focus to the mission and making sure that mission is accomplished.

A leader is loyal. They are loyal to their superiors and they are loyal to their subordinates. Often loyalty is thought of in terms of the subordinate being loyal to their superior, but true loyalty must be equal. When a superior officer is not loyal to their subordinates, the balance of their relationship is skewed. They will demand loyalty from their subordinates, but those subordinates will follow them only out of obligation, which creates in poor performance and will result in failure to successfully accomplish the overall mission objectives. It is especially important to recognize this since we are a volunteer force. Loyalty to our subordinates is important as it encourages them to participate and maintain activity. If our subordinates do not feel that we are here to serve them, they will not bother showing up.

Leaders are good listeners. Any leader who tells you they have all the insight into a situation that they need to make decisions is not being honest and may actually be deceiving you. We are human, and it is impossible for us to know everything which surrounds us. Successful leaders listen to their subordinates, both for concerns and counsel to make decisions. Not only will the leader receive more valuable information to make a more informed decision, they will also encourage subordinates to get involved and contribute more to the organization and accomplishing the mission.

Some leaders are excellent listeners, but listening is only effective if the leader acts on what they are told. Once a leader has listened to their subordinates, they must act quickly in response. An indecisive leader will quickly lose the confidence of their subordinates in their leadership. This confidence is important and it can lead to a vicious cycle. Subordinates will seek others to discuss their problems with and have decisions made if it is perceived that a leader is indecisive.

Often a leader will have to make tough decisions, and there will be a perception that someone will be the loser or suffer as a result of it. The losing party will only find these types of decisions acceptable if they are given the impression that the action was decided on with a sense of fairness. Ensure that all parties involved, especially the guilty party, understand the conditions which led to a decision.

I said before that it is impossible for a leader to know everything, but it is still important for leaders to know as much as possible about their position and all of the other positions in the Ordo Imperialis. Take the time to study and learn about your position and the essentials in performing your duties. If you diligently seek knowledge, you will be able to apply that knowledge to improve the Ordo Imperialis and its personnel. Part of that quest for knowledge is reading this article, so you are definitely on the right path!

Your subordinates will expect you to embody the essential traits and ethics required of Ordo personnel as dictated in our handbook and policies. However, meeting the standards is not sufficient for a leader. Leaders are expected to exceed all of these standards. They are expected to lead by example. Your subordinates will look at you as an example in how they interact with other personnel. If you are consistently failing to lead as an example, they will fail right behind you just as a lemming would. You will also have subordinates who recognize your failure and lose respect and esteem for you as a leader. Why should subordinates respect and follow the orders of someone who refuses to follow basic protocol?

You will find at times that a situation isn’t described in the handbook or you weren’t taught how to approach a problem and the only guide in making a decision is your moral compass. A leader's moral compass is their sense of honor. A compromise of your honor and integrity will lead the Ordo Imperialis and your credibility as a leader astray. You must learn that you not only do things correctly, but that you are doing the right thing. You will find that the people around you fall in one of two categories in regards to honor: honest and dishonest. Never take shortcuts and allow yourself to be perceived as dishonest, as you will never recover the full confidence and respect of your subordinates.

A leader does not seek credit or glory for their accomplishments. Your subordinates will be watching those who take credit for successful actions. Everyone has seen people who are the first to take credit and yet they are the quickest to avoid responsibility. Perception is important, and having humility will affect the loyalty of your subordinates. Promote the accomplishments of others, and accept responsibility for failure whenever you can and it is appropriate.

It is very important that you understand this last piece of advice, as it will have a great deal of influence on your subordinates. Always give praise to others in public, and criticize or discipline in private. You will find that those who berate in public will lose esteem just as much as the people that they are disciplining. You will also find that the leader who is quick to scream and shout while providing discipline will quickly lose credibility and respect. Handle discipline in a calm and collected manner, and make sure it is constructive. Ensuring that a subordinate is aware of your disappointment can have more of an impact than any amount of profanity or shouting could ever accomplish.

[Eriksson Foxtrot]

Very good read Nrom, thanks!

[Agares Tretiak]

Excellent essay, Mr. Normandy.

[Aryte]

This, a thousand times. I am so using this for a required reading.

[Zero Itamae]

Why didn't I have you write for me D:...