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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-06-2009 @ 2:59PM
Az said...
This situation is not unique to WoW.
It's common in real life jobs. If you're the boss, or in a position of authority, learning to deal with this problem is part of being in charge. Unfortunately, being a GM or guild officer is pretty much like being the boss on a job, except the problem is even more likely to occur because WoW is a game.
The way I always think of it is this: when you're in charge, you can be friendly with your employees (guildies), but you really can't be friends. There are boundaries between the two that are better left in place when you're in a position of authority. And, regardless it being a game, WoW guild officers are in that position.
I'm sure there are exceptions in both RL and in-game where everyone gets along perfectly and is okay with roles, etc. But, in my experience, there are always people out there that are looking to take advantage (whether consciously, or subconsciously) of a friend relationship in a work situation. It applies to real life and it applies to WoW (which is after all usually a microcosm of real life).
In my opinion, being in charge requires a certain understanding and acceptance of the boundaries between friend and friendly. Not everyone who is put in a leadership position is comfortable with the boundary and they are probably not going to be as effective a leader because of it. At some point you have to decide what is more important: being in charge and being effective, or being a friend. It's a social compromise that can be a very hard choice to make.
Reply
4-06-2009 @ 5:55PM
Aaron A. said...
"There are boundaries between [being friendly and being friends] that are better left in place when you're in a position of authority. And, regardless it being a game, WoW guild officers are in that position."
Couldn't agree more. There are people, in real life as well as in-game, who will expect you to abuse your power for their benefit. My first supervisory position was at a restaurant, where I was charged with managing my friends and classmates. Wanting to be their buddy, I let them do whatever they wanted, and in short order I was given the choice of quitting or relocating to another store where nobody knew me. I let my friends break the rules, and hurt me far more than it hurt them.
Many years later, in another industry, I again got promoted from worker-bee to management, and I decided to take a firmer stance. I tried to be friendly while still enforcing the rules. I lost a "work friend" or two in the process, because they expected immunity from the rules, they expected to sit around and read comics instead of working. When that never materialized, they decided that I'd "changed" and stopped talking to me. Most, however, respected that I was trying to do my job, and accepted my new role.
Personally, I agree with the author; a real friend wouldn't put you in a position that compromised your duties to the guild. If I saw the alleged misconduct, I would agree with the other officers, but present it in a kind way that emphasized areas for improvement. If I weren't there, I'd sympathize, but otherwise stay out of it. I would not go on a fact-finding mission to determine who said what about the friend, and I certainly would not be the friend's mouthpiece in a public argument with the other officers.