Leadership:

The Art of Warfare (TAW) provides many opportunities for individuals to pursue leadership roles in the organization. Jobs can range from very simple jobs to complex or on the battlefield to in the “office”. No matter what your interests, if you can dedicate the time and energy required, TAW has a place for you!

Much of TAW’s membership arrives at practices and plays their game without understanding the sheer volume of work required to organize and run the unit. If you are in a Military Division, the staff organizes and runs tournaments and contests. In MMO, the staff has to coordinate Guild-wide events and raids. In Admin, the staff has to run all of TAW’s development projects, IT work, and resource groups. All of the work doesn’t happen by itself!

Whether you are in Military or MMO Branch, there is main distinction in the leadership, Battlefield Leadership or Command Staff. Battlefield Leadership are the leaders that coordinate the on the field operations for the branch. Their job starts when the members of the squad or other unit enter the game and being playing. Their job ends when the game or event is over. In the game the Battlefield Leadership is called to execute their planned strategy or make the split-second decisions necessary to win. Because a battle is not the time for discussion or debate, the Battlefield Leaders have full authority in the game. The Battlefield Leadership has multiple levels of leaders that work together to form a cohesive team.

The Command Staff performs the administrative work for the branch. These leaders are responsible for everything other than the on the field activities. Some of these duties include, decision making, recruiting, managing rules and policies, handling member problems, and anything else that comes up. The Command Staff also has multiple levels of leaders working together, from server and technical support to personnel management.

Becoming a Leader:

There are always opportunities to grow as a leader in TAW. You need to be willing to put in the time and effort to be successful at your position. If you are looking to “move up the ranks” and gain authority, you should think twice about taking a leadership position. Those individuals that are in it for the “power” are often the least respected leaders. Without respect you will quickly find yourself out of people to “lead”.

If you are interested in becoming a leader, tell your CoC. They are always on the look out for new people to take some responsibility. Realize that things may start small, but if you do your job well, there are many more opportunities that will become available.

New Developments in Leadership:

Up until about January of 2007, TAW used a very passive system to identify and select its leadership. Most often candidates where drawn from the direct Chain of Command (CoC). At this time a change began to occur in the senior leadership of the organization. There was a reprioritization in the leadership selection process. More emphasis was placed on skills and effort than seniority.  This change, although seemingly small, made a significant difference in combating entitlement and other issues. Although at first this was a difficult change for many to accept, TAW has not looked back since!

In June of 2007, TAW began an ambitious Leadership Project that has paved the way for even more progress. By adopting a committee of dedicated leaders in TAW, the Leadership Project was able to identify four main areas of need for the organization. The committee realized that any program would need elements of all 4 categories to be successful: