The guild I lead is officially a medium RP guild, but that doesn't really do it justice. We do just about everything. People come for the RP, which some people describe as heavy, but we have lots of enthusiastic members who are interested in all the content the game has to offer. So we've got a raid group as well.
I know that lots of guilds have enough trouble with just keeping a guild devoted to raiding together, so some people might wonder how we do Raiding, RP and all the more casual content in between. The secret is that we're an RP guild first and foremost. If something happened to the raid then our reason for being would not go away. If something happened to the RP, then we might go away... in fact we probably would... which would be quite sad... but anyway!
In order to keep a guild together it has to preform how the members expect it to. For us it would be to maintain a certain level of RP activeness. Now there's always going to be people who decide to move on, and that's inevitable. Back before we had a raid group, some members left to explore that content. But it was only a few members. We maintained a certain level of RP activity and the guild has remained.
Frequently the reason that raid guilds break up is that the member's expectations of the raid is not being met. There are many different reasons that can lead to this, but all of it comes down to one point. If the members aren't satisfied then they'll start thinking about leaving, and eventually will if nothing changes.
The peice of knowledge to take out of it all is that the top priority of the successful guild master is to satisfy the guild member's expectations if it is at all possible. And if it's not possible then that needs to be explained to the guild members.
In other words, when you're running a guild, the guild member is the customer. The customer is not always right.... but the better you treat them and meet their expectations, the better your business or guild will perform.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Intro
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” -The historical Pericles
Being a guild leader is rough. Of all of the things I have done in my life so far it is the hardest. However it has also been one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had. Nothing has taught me so much about what it is to be a leader, and how best to lead. And for all the trouble that it may have caused me from time to time, I like seeing my guild succeed and flourish. I feel a special sense of accomplishment when people say how great my guild is, as thankless as my own specific exploits may be.
I know quite well that it's not this way for everyone though, and there are a lot of people struggling out there. These are good meaning people in tough situations who may be at a loss for what to do and so I'd like to help in my own little way.
In this blog I hope to share with you my trials and triumphs, my advice and my concerns as Guild Leader of a major and long running guild involved in RP, Raiding and everything in-between. For as the historical Pericles said we leave behind our impression on people and it's my hope that by doing this I can help all the guild leaders out there to be better guild leaders, and in doing so help their guild members as well. I've done much in my own guild as leader, but why should I be selfish with the things I've learned? It gains me nothing.
So take from me what you will. The one promise I will make is that everything will be the truth as best I can describe it to you.
-Pericles
Being a guild leader is rough. Of all of the things I have done in my life so far it is the hardest. However it has also been one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had. Nothing has taught me so much about what it is to be a leader, and how best to lead. And for all the trouble that it may have caused me from time to time, I like seeing my guild succeed and flourish. I feel a special sense of accomplishment when people say how great my guild is, as thankless as my own specific exploits may be.
I know quite well that it's not this way for everyone though, and there are a lot of people struggling out there. These are good meaning people in tough situations who may be at a loss for what to do and so I'd like to help in my own little way.
In this blog I hope to share with you my trials and triumphs, my advice and my concerns as Guild Leader of a major and long running guild involved in RP, Raiding and everything in-between. For as the historical Pericles said we leave behind our impression on people and it's my hope that by doing this I can help all the guild leaders out there to be better guild leaders, and in doing so help their guild members as well. I've done much in my own guild as leader, but why should I be selfish with the things I've learned? It gains me nothing.
So take from me what you will. The one promise I will make is that everything will be the truth as best I can describe it to you.
-Pericles
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