Complete Guide to Leadership

WIPWIPWIP

Hi there! I’m Trailtracker, former leader of Windclan and Vehement (not to mention founder of the wiki haha). Since I’ve seen a lot, I think that writing this would provide a lot of help! Read each section carefully, as a lot of this advice relies on the details. This is shaped a lot by my specific experience, so view everything critically. Don't be afraid to ask what something means or why something is here.

## Things to keep in mind:

1. a group is basically a glorified group of friends. Don’t create a severe hierarchy, otherwise, the people at the bottom will feel very left out.

2. Drama is natural, and it’s natural to feel like your group is doomed at times. However, “quitting while you’re ahead” is the worst thing you can do.

3. If you need a break, don’t break off leadership suddenly. Make sure your heir to power knows what to do, if you want the group to succeed.

4. Lynching is common and normal. Keep it under control, though.

5. In this guide, i'm assuming your goal is to keep the clan alive and under control for as long as possible. Perhaps your goal is something else, like to put a great idea out there. If so, this guide won't help.

Other guides:

* How to be a successful leader
* Far from home clan creation guide (Originally for fan fiction, very useful though)

# Can it be done?

First: are you the right person for starting a group?

are you active? You may need to be able to get online every day in order to contribute every day.

are you wise? Leaders cannot be quick to anger or be too vulnerable to emotions. They need a steady head in order to lead their group through the highs and lows.

are you experienced? You should have some experience roleplaying. It helps a lot if you’ve been part of a group before as well.

do you have a den? This matters less, but it still matters. Some people will only roleplay in large dens. However, you could borrow someone else’s or make a new account for a den.

# Appeal

## What sort of group?

* Relaxed or Controlled
	+ This might not seem like something that you would pay attention to. Leaders generally don't change their level of control over the different groups that they make. Its important to keep it in mind, though.
	+ I once witnessed a group that kept its members under such strict control that they could get banished for a small thing, like an item on their AJPW avatar. When members got exiled, which was often, they would come crawling back, and get ignored. Then they would get frustrated and start their own groups, which would try to attack the group. They called it tiring, but you can see it was their fault.
	+ Even so, if a group is so relaxed that you could say that the leader is spineless, the group would be out of control, and split apart eventually, due to drama, inactivity, or battles, even.
* Cat, canine, mythical, human
* Formal or casual
* Themed or not themed
	+ Usually i'd go for themed, since it makes the group stand out more.
* Edgy, not edgy

## Ranking system

Your ranking system shouldn’t be too complicated. It’s tempting to add a lot of different ranks and subdivisions of ranks, but that gets complicated. Don’t give individual members too much power either. You want the leader to have most of the power, as things get complicated when power gets complicated.

# Getting off the ground

## recruiting

* Ajpw groups wiki
* Pillow room
* Social media
* A good start is around 3 - 7 people. It depends on how ’good’ the people are, though.

## Setting the tone

As the leader you set the tone of the group.

The first members shape the group tremendously and you should keep that in mind. However, no one affects it as much as you.

# Occurrences

## Wars

It may be tempting to use wars as a way to settle disputes. However, that is a horrible idea. Friendly rivalries can be settled with wars, but huge drama cannot. It’s way too difficult and causes more drama.

Wars can be fun! I highly recommend taking something as a result of winning, like taking the losing side’s territory.

## Traitors

Whether from double-grouping or betraying information to other groups, the accused are rarely dealt with correctly. The group usually gets very emotional and lynches them before their side is heard. The leader may or may not get swept up in the emotion as well. I do not know the best way to deal with traitors, but keep in mind to be careful with emotions. Be careful with banishing people, don’t do it too often.

Lynching may even create a sense of unity in your group. In fact, I’d encourage the scorn as long as the accused is actually guilty.

## Enemy groups

However enemies are made, it is crucial to keep conflict under control. Some foolish apprentice may try to heighten the conflict, or warriors might try to spy and get caught. It’s difficult to keep this from happening, but I suggest that in times of war you tighten your control over your group. Do not try to use spies unless the situation calls for it. Oftentimes, there is no super important secret information. Spies are a huge risk with little to no gain, especially if you are sloppy and the spy gets caught.

## Plots

I recommend having ‘plots’ which is writing out what will happen, and then roleplaying it. There can be many types of plots: natural disasters, drama, prophecies.

it’s important to have a good balance between dark plots and lighthearted plots. Too many dark plots will get tiring, and too many lighthearted plots will become boring.

## Drama

Drama is the thing that can ruin a group the fastest. People panic, and make irrational decisions, or leave. Once one person leaves, the rest follow. Therefore, the best thing to do is:

Stay in control and keep the calm, and if that isn't possible, make it look like you’re in control and staying calm.

If you appear on top of everything, people will not panic. They look to you to tell them what to do, and if you seem unsure or insecure, they will do what the more confident ones are doing: panicking or leaving.

Once you've done that, you should be wise in your decision to end the drama. A word of caution from me is to be careful with banishing. Feelings will definitely get hurt. However, banishing is a quick, clean, and easy way to get rid of drama, as long as the right people are banished. Use it wisely.

## Making Enemies

Having enemies can be the thing that bonds a group together. It can also be the thing that ruins a group. Be careful of who you make your enemies.

DO NOT try to make an enemy out of an ally. It will NOT bond your group together. Do not try to make an enemy discreetly, either. It'll happen on it's own, trust me.

## Little Children

Okay, you might not *like* little kids. My advice is to suck it up. Be patient with children and do not snap. It may be difficult to train them though, so let them down slowly.

The same applies to most members of your group too, actually.

## Punishments

Go through with all of the punishments that you threaten on your wiki page. Do not favor your friends over the newer members. Favoring friends will lead to less people joining and staying, and more possible drama.

Don't overdo punishments, however. The main point of punishments is to stop the behavior.

# Power transitions

Power transitions are very difficult. For some groups they may only happen when the founder leaves, for others they may be routine.

## Appointing the right person

Find someone who is: levelheaded, confident, not afraid to speak up, clever, emotionally intelligent, and well rounded.
Do not appoint them if they: relish drama, are impatient, get angry often, seem overly cynical or overly optimistic, are inexperienced, power hungry, or seem to heavily favor their friends over quiet or new group-mates. Of course, there are exceptions, but a combination of these traits generally makes for bad leaders. (This applies to you too.)

## Transferring the power

Make sure the heir to power shares responsibilities with you, and thinks to do routine things without you reminding them, otherwise it will be very clear when the power changes from one hand to another. Resist the urge to hold on to the power and trust your heir.

Eventually, when the heir could hold roleplay sessions on their own, and possibly deal with intruders or wars without you, proceed to kill off your character or leave the group. Make sure if you are doing a plot, that you and your heir to power have enough time.

Whatever you do, do not leave all of a sudden. Make sure the heir has it all under control before you leave. Even if its a few days more of staying, it could make the difference for your group.

People tend to leave if they see their leader leaving.