The Forum Moderator's Guide To Life - Parts 1 and 2

Part 2

In the last part of this article, we discussed the characteristics of quality leaders. We looked at leadership in the context of forum moderation, but in reality, these principles can be applied to many different circumstances in everyday life. As we delve a little deeper into quality leadership, let us examine a few more concepts.

Quality Leaders Control Their Own Destiny

Leaders are directly responsible for the way they’re perceived. This is not something that comes about through simply actions, though our behavior does play a significant role in how any of us is perceived. Instead, good leadership is, to a large degree, all about perceptions. A person is a good leader because of the way they’re perceived.

When crisis strikes, the ability of a leader to calm the ensuing uproar rests upon his ability to create a perception of calm. When situations spin out of control, leadership is highlighted by the ability of the leader to convince the people that everything is under control. It very well may be that the whole operation is in danger of falling apart, but by creating the perception that they’ve got the situation well in hand, the leader instills confidence in his people.

How does this leadership characteristic pertain to forums management? Leadership principles remain the same, no matter what the venue. Principles never change.

In a community setting, there is often behind-the-scenes conflict. Often, there are factions within the hierarchy of community leadership, and when these factions disagree, each side can struggle over an issue at length. Frequently, there might be more than one issue, and different individuals can find themselves on different sides of each argument. Depending on how divisive the issue is, the divide can be quite harsh and defined.

During times of internal debate, the leadership hierarchy might be perceived by an outsider as a war zone with smoke lingering over a battlefield and bullets flying back and forth. But, with good leadership, the outsider will never see that war zone. There will be a unified face put forward by the group.

“But that’s lying,” you might say.

Not really. An honest leadership organization will recognize that there will be conflict, and agree to disagree, instead, putting the best foot forward for the community. This sense of unity will inspire confidence in the membership of the community. They will see the forum being led and maintained by a unified group of individuals who respect each other, and comprise a group that’s devoid of internal bickering. This is usually in the best interests of the community as a whole.

Good Leaders Nip Gossip in The Bud

Gossip among leadership will kill an organization like a slow poison. Whether you administer a healthy community, or are simply a moderator, beware!

Take this situation, for example. Jack is an Admin of a major forum. He has six Moderators under him, among which are Bill and Kelly. During the course of a day, Kelly says something publicly that Jack feels needs to be addressed, so he sends Kelly an email that explains his position, and asks her to be careful in what she says. That evening, Kelly is chatting to Bill over instant messenger and starts talking about how Jack sent the email to her. She says that Jack has no idea what he’s talking about and that he’s got ill feelings toward her. Kelly’s pretty persuasive, and Bill has never known her to lie, so he thinks that what she says must be true. Later, in talking to another moderator, he mentions the scenario, and adds that Jack has it in for Kelly…

In this situation, gossip has effectively set at least two community moderators in direct opposition to the leadership of the forum, and has effectively driven a wedge between people who are supposed to be members of a cohesive team. Precedent says that in this situation, Kelly should have kept her mouth shut and worked out any disagreements directly with Jack, but instead she has begun a slow-spreading poison that will ultimately hurt the community.

Good Leaders Make Tough Decisions

As Moderators and Administrators, you will find yourself in tough positions. Should you ban someone, or give them a warning shot? Should you enforce a guideline even though it’s only a small transgression and it probably wasn’t intentional, or should you let it slide so that you don’t appear tough, dictatorial, and uncompromising? For each situation and community, the approach the leaders take will differ.

On boards I’ve moderated, there have emerged vast differences of opinion over how strict or loose guidelines should be. Often, moderators have strongly disagreed over the directions that should be taken in the community. In a responsible forum, these kinds of discussions among community leaders are taken up behind the scenes out of the public eye, but once a decision is made, there much be mutual support among forum leaders at all levels.

Administrators have some of the hardest decisions to make, because whatever they do will affect the entire community, and indeed, their decisions may alter the future of the community. It’s like trying to engineer a satellite’s orbit. The smallest fraction of a degree off course, and the satellite will plunge to a fiery grave -- or hurtle into outer space. As an administrator, the simplest decisions, or off the cuff comments in the heat of the moment can alter the direction, mood and atmosphere of a community.

That in itself could scare you, but for the Administrator, there’s often not a lot of room for second-guessing. In fact, when you make a decision as a community’s leader, it can be important not to second guess yourself. Often, it’s all too easy to get caught up in a never ending war of “what ifs”. Instead, have confidence in your ability to make wise choices -- with the advice of others, perhaps. You must make the decision and stand by it, never looking back.