Officers' Quarters: Suffocating in a leadership vacuum
by Scott Andrews 
Jul 11th 2011 at 1:00PM
A few months ago, I wrote a column about replacing a guild leader who disappeared without naming a successor. This week, the problem is slightly different: The guild leader named a successor who turned out to be a poor replacement, and the remaining officers have all but disappeared. In light of this leadership vacuum, a member of the guild wonders whether he should step up and bluntly ask for the top rank.
Hello Scott,
For close to a year now I've been part of a large social/raiding guild with a very healthy and active player base. In WotLK everything was fine, raiding went great and the guild chat was always full with friendly players so basically the guild was at its best and a great home for everyone. Probably this was very much thanks to the capabilities of our guild leader ... She was liked by many and formed the heart of our guild easily.
One day I logged in to hear from some officers that the guild leader was going on a long break to sort out real life issues. Only a few people knew how long this would take and they refused to share this information with the rest of us to respect her privacy. Before she left, one officer was appointed to lead the guild in the meanwhile. Problem was that this was a very unreliable player (he used to disappear for months without notice because he suddenly grew bored of the game) and before he hadn't been an officer and was only given the role because he was the only one to volunteer.
The only officers were personal friends of the guild leader and with her leaving they started logging in less frequently too, leaving the guild practically in the sole care of the substitute guild leader. At first he did fine, but since he had no backup from officers he became easy to push around. A new raid leader stepped up and claimed the raiding team for his own purposes: the raids never appeared on calendar anymore, he would just whisper the best geared players in the guild and pug almost half the group because he thought we were not good enough to play. This went on for a few weeks before everybody started complaining and the issue was more or less fixed.Your guild is in a tough situation here for sure, one that has become all too common these days. For many communities, guild leaders are incredibly difficult to replace.
Paradoxically, as soon as raiding was opened for everyone, nobody showed up anymore because they were too irl to make it (including me I have to admit). The raiding fell flat on its back which made recruiting extremely difficult, also because the raid leader started pugging again and new recruits were left out in the cold with the rest of us.
And that's how it's been for the last few weeks now. ... Probably the stupidest thing is that there's still a large group of officers (I think the officer ratio is 1 to 3 players right now) who have remained silent all the time since they were too busy irl to even care about raiding, let alone the trouble others were having with it. Lately though they've been talking of throwing out the current guild leader and raid leader (who's been applying with other guilds anyway) and just making clean ship and get the guild back on its feet.
Problem is that they haven't increased their activity in the guild, so I'm afraid that we'll just be stuck without any leadership ...
Now before you say "Abandon ship you fool! Run for the hills and make sure you burn everything behind you so they can't follow your trail!", I deeply love this guild. I've had plenty opportunities to leave (many of my friends joined better raiding guilds who'd like to have me) but never wanted to. And I don't even know why, because the state it's in almost depresses me. ...
Now comes the ugly part: I honestly think that I would be the best choice for leading our guild at the moment, because I love it deeply and hate to see it in this state. I've been a longtime member (and been officer/classleader for a while until, during a break, my role was given to the guy who now is our guild leader) and people know me, except for some newbies who would probably wonder where the heck I came from. Since I was officer before I know the other officers and would be able to work with them again and appoint a few new, more active ones on top.
Problem is: our guild has a strict hierarchy and it's very much frowned upon to just demand a higher rank. I don't even dare suggest to other people that I would consider taking up the leader role until the old one returns. If they take it badly I'll have no other choice but to leave. I honestly mean it when I say that I would gladly give the leadership up again once the real leader comes back. I just want to see things set right again.
Maybe right now you think I'm a jerk for trying to take over a guild that's already on its knees, and I wouldn't blame you because it would be a huge jerk move since it would involve removing a few people from their ranks ... Do you have any advise on what I should do to help out my guild to the fullest?
My question for you is this: What do you want out of this guild?
Make it happen
Identify what you want the guild to provide. Then go out and make it happen, regardless of what your rank is. If you want to raid, start putting together raids. If you want to run dungeons, post on your guild's forums and set a night for running dungeons. If you want to just be social and encourage other people to be social, start chatting it up in /g, offering to help people with achievements, farming, and so on.
Too many players think that not having an officer rank means they can't be proactive in the guild. Sure, sometimes it can lead to officers feeling like you're stepping on their toes. Just a few weeks ago, we saw the case of a player who started an alt run and incurred the ire of one of the officers. However, when none of your officers are doing anything for the guild except waiting around for the original guild leader to return, they don't really have any toes to step on.
True leadership is action
Leadership should always be earned rather than given. Volunteering for it does not make you qualified for it, and your current guild leader is a perfect example of that.
I don't typically recommend asking for an officer rank, let alone the guild leader position, unless the officers are specifically requesting volunteers. Instead, support the guild however you can. If and when you make some truly valuable contributions to the guild, the officers should recognize that -- and eventually offer you a higher rank. Of course, there are always notable exceptions.
More often than not, the people who make the best officers are the ones who, when promoted, have other members saying to each other, "Huh? I thought that player was an officer already."
Whatever you do, stick with it. A lot of players who step up don't have the persistence to see things through. They suggest a new raid, try it for one night, and then give up when it doesn't work out the way they hoped. A weak attempt at making things better can actually backfire and push morale even further downhill.
It's going to be hard work to turn this guild around. You won't be able to do it all on your own, but you can try to make something happen and hope others will be inspired to do likewise.
Rank means very little next to real accomplishments. Be a leader in action and the recognition will follow.
/salute
Recently, Officers' Quarters has examined how strong new leadership can create a guild turnaround, the pitfalls of promising more than you can deliver, and lessons learned from Scott's own guild demise. Send your own guild-related questions and suggestions to scott@wowinsider.com.
Filed under: Officers' Quarters (Guild Leadership)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
blazenor Jul 11th 2011 1:19PM
I'm trying to understand what is it that the OP love about the guild if some of his friends left to other guilds and raiding is being PuG in place over other guild members?
Saeadame Jul 11th 2011 1:33PM
I guess it's the same as why I stay with my current guild. I can't make the raid times, so I'm stuck PUGing raids when I can (which isn't that often). My RL friends have all stopped playing or moved servers, but I stay on my server because I like how many people there are. I've had alts on lower population servers, but the atmosphere just isn't the same as playing with 25k other Hordies. And I stay in my guild because I like the "feel" of the guild and I like the people.
StClair Jul 11th 2011 1:43PM
Sounds to me that (like many players) he loves how the guild USED to be. :(
Cobalt Jul 11th 2011 1:44PM
As someone who used to be in the same situation as the OP was, you must first ask yourself this very blunt (and quite possibly rude) question:
Do you really care about the guild? Or are you just afraid of change?
blazenor Jul 11th 2011 1:54PM
There are only 3 reasons to be in a guild:
1. Social (friends, family and guild members)
2. Raiding
3. with Cata - Guild Perks (not really a strong reason)
If 1 and 2 are not there, get out.
DonNochay Jul 11th 2011 6:55PM
@Blazenor
I would definitely say that guild perks are a BIG reason to be in a guild, but honestly, how many servers are lacking level 25 guilds to be in?
So yeah, somewhat minor, but important nonetheless.
xSushi Jul 11th 2011 2:12PM
I spent far too long trying to turn things back around to how they used to be in my old guild before finally breaking away to create my own. If you don't like how things are going I'm all about making it happen however possible.
Part of me was hostage to our high guild level, perhaps a part of me nervous to be in charge of something that could fail. I only have 4 friends to play with right now, but those 4 players are much more enjoyable to play with than the 200+ filler that was left after our core group broke up my the old guild.
My advice I suppose is, don't be afraid to step up to the plate to turn things around for your guild or for yourself, this could be as simple as having conversations with officers in your guild and setting goals and re-establishing policy. Good Luck!
dengarsw Jul 11th 2011 5:23PM
Dead on, Sushi. If you care about your guild, you sometimes have to rise to the occasion and take on some of the burden. I personally resisted this for years of gaming and some of my favorite guilds fell apart because of people like me =(
Learn it now, and do something about it if you really care.
That being said, if you leave, make sure the next guild you join explicitly states how ranks work and are earned. Make sure there's some sort of policy on the functions of the guild in general (as Mr. Andrews seems to have to stress more and more often). Far too many guilds have either raw progress or "a nice GM," and when one of those wavers, the guild goes to hell.
rkaliski Jul 11th 2011 4:13PM
Before anyone decides to go off and become a guild leader they should ask themselves a few questions
Can they give an honest, calm and level headed answer to raiders who want to know why they were left out of a raid. If the first thing that pops into your head is "Because I said so!" BZZZZZZIT.....step away from the reins of leadership slowly.
Do you really, really know the workings of the various classes and how they relate to each other in the modern raiding setting? If your knowledge of the game is limited to your own class and you bone up on a new boss fight 10 minutes before raid time, BZZZZZZIT NEXT!
Finally, do you have what it takes to tell your best friends that "sorry you went off and stopped raiding without telling anyone you will have to wait till a raid spot opens." It's easy to be hard on strangers but tougher, much much tougher on your buddys. Too often your "friends" think that they have a raid spot locked up because you are now the boss. If they do, they are not friends but users. Bet they use you in other ways outside the game.
Scooter Jul 11th 2011 4:32PM
This is addressing the writer since he didn't list any name...
The only important factor in your decision is will you continue to have fun or not. In the end all of your questions/concerns reach that point. If leading the guild is going to be fun for you then go for it. If you are just trying to regain some former glory well...it's time to jump ship and move to a new guild or server.
Keep in mind that taking leadership of a dying guild is essentially the same as starting from scratch. Your not going to pick up 5 people, and start raiding again. You're recruiting 25-50 new people and weeding out the bad/potential-less players. Letting them level up, gear up, and then taking them through 1000 raid wipes to see if they have the capacity to learn and work together.
To me that sounds like a real pain in the backside. Honestly, all that comfort and familiarity your trying to hold onto is easy to replace. Most of us would have quit by now if that wasn't the truth.
Xantenise Jul 11th 2011 5:47PM
Rule of thumb: whenever there is a change of guild leadership, the guild usually dies. The old guild leader comes back and is always surprised.
I've only ever seen one exception.
ToxicPopsicle Jul 11th 2011 6:09PM
My guild has been dying. Slowly but surely. Our Raid Leader left us at the end of WotLK (a week after Hallion was released) and we just kind of told everyone to take a break (I'm an officer).
Since Cata, our main tank took up the role of Raid Leader as it kind of suited the situation. We got through all the normal modes of BWD, TotFW, and BoT with relative ease, then a few of our healers decided to take a break. This lead to our 25 man guild becoming a 10 man guild. We never really did much in attempts for Heroic modes, we just figured we'd get everyone their 359 gear so they could be ready to go all out when Firelands hit.
Since Firelands, our main tank and raid leader hasn't returned and has no plans to do such. All of the other officers seem reluctant to lead and I don't feel I can handle it without pulling my hair out. The guild leader has always been passive and behind-the-scenes when it comes to the guild. As an officer, I'm in charge of loot, recruitment, and setting up the raids. I've been trying to raid lead, but it's been far too stressful with the other aspects. Less of our core raiders are logging on for raids and I feel it's about time to call it quits.
Tomorrow, I leave for a week long vacation. It'll be filled with soul searching on what my next step is with WoW or maybe life in general, quitting the game entirely.
I feel the person in the letter is in a similar situation. A lot of guilds are. There are still plenty of people that want to raid, you just have to get them all together.
Lissanna Jul 11th 2011 6:35PM
At some point, trying to hold onto a dieing guild is just hard. One person can't really keep a whole raiding guild together, and it is really the leadership that makes a guild hold together. I would personally recommend abandoning ship based out of experience. Going down with the ship really just is NOT fun.
terph Jul 11th 2011 8:44PM
On that note, does anyone have advice from rebuilding a guild from scratch? I'm my guild's only active member right now, and I've got full permission to do what I please with it. It has a few levels already and a good bank, so it wouldn't be from scratch in that regard. I myself am pretty well established and have several 85s covering all the major roles and a good chunk of the useful professions.
wedgefulcrum Jul 12th 2011 9:47AM
@terph - As a guild leader myself, I would say you need to know what kind of guild you are interesting in pouring lots of time and sometimes literal blood, sweat, and tears into. There are plenty of wonderful articles in Officer's Quarters and around the internet for raiding guilds and some of RP guilds, but I feel that advice for a social and/or casual guild is a bit lacking. I run a social guild and found a wow blogging community to recruit from, initially. Your mileage may vary on this, but overall it's worked out quite well.
I would say that being a guild leader is probably the most rewarding and frustrating thing I've ever done in-game. I'm not trying to discourage you from taking up the mantle, but it's good to know what you're in for - good and bad. I wish you luck if you choose to really get that guild going!
Priestess Jul 12th 2011 11:34AM
I was in a similar spot back in BC. I joined a guild that was really nice and which I enjoyed, but when people started to jump ship to raid with bigger guilds or quit the game or take a break or what have you, it was clearly the beginning of the end. I really liked the core group of people though, and I didn't want to see it all end like that. The GM seemed kind of overwhelmed and at a loss as to what to do. I wanted to help, so I found things I could do and whispered him, "I'd like to help out, how about I do _______?"
At first he was very reluctant because I'd never been one before to say or do anything noticable within the guild. So I did things I could do without his permission or a higher rank, like tidy the guild bank (as in sort it since I couldn't withdraw), say hello to people when they came online, and bring things for everyone to use when we did have a raid. A while of this later, when I suggested I could help him keep up the website and do some recruiting to try to bring things back to life, he finally took me up on it. After some more time when I suggested I could help him manage the guild bank, I got promoted so I could. Much later, in Wrath, when I said I'd be interested in leading raids to help us get them started, I became a raid leader.
And now here we are many years down the road, the guild is thriving, and I and the others who made it through that time are still in it. We just had our second real-life guild meetup. I'm second in command of the guild, with a really great officer team working with me. When our GM left the game for a while recently, I didn't ask to take over because I don't want *all* the responsibility, but I've done all the work of it for so long that things went along smoothly this time and we haven't had any issues in his absence.
So, to the letter writer, take Scott's advice. If you want to work toward saving this guild, step up. There are plenty of things you can do that you don't need permission for, and which will tell the members and any other leaders that you're there for the long haul and willing to take on the task of leading and supporting within the guild. Become a natural leader, and the title will come on its own in time. If it doesn't, you're definitely in the wrong place. If it does, you succeeded! And best of luck to you. It's no easy trip. But I've found it to be very rewarding.