Discuss

[magick]

http://www.sitepoint.com/article/guide-life-parts-1-2

Discuss.

[MrGone]

Hrm, some very salient points made therin... in my own experience, many of those who attain leadership roles have done so without actually earning the position. It's good to see someone willing to impart some basic knowledge on the leadership role; I feel that more such guidance would be beneficial in many aspects of society, not just within the realm of online moderation.

[DarkWarrior]

I have to disagree with this, simply because the point of moderating isn't to lead a community. It's to keep order in a community, to prevent problems and deal with problems. Community leaders are the enthusiasts, and the people who put forth effort into making the community a better place than it currently is. I do not believe that a good moderator will necessarily make a good leader, and I do not believe a good leader will necessarily make a good moderator. A good forum needs both, but both do not always share the same role. Some people can do both, others can't. I, personally, am not leadership material. However, I am a moderator both here and on another forum. I would not call myself a leader on either of these, though I believe that I moderate them well.

That being said, those few who are capable of doing both are wonderful, and should be appointed (If, of course, they want to be appointed, the position should never be forced) as a moderator.

The big problem with combining leaders and moderators, though, is that you wind up with two inherently separate tasks (That is, leading vs. maintaining order). Leaders have more leeway in how they can handle issues with people. Moderators, however, do not. They must maintain absolute neutrality, and not give any one side seemingly more attention or sympathy. Leaders, however, do have a bit more discretion there, and can try to convince two or more parties that (s)he (Leader) has a certain parties' best interests more in mind to try and get them talking and solving issues. Moderators need to be more immediately decisive, where leaders can sometimes afford not to be. Charisma is crucial to being a leader, and sternness is crucial to moderators. While both need these traits, how they are used and prioritized makes a huge difference in the two.

[Face]

DW - That is an excellent analysis; I agree with many points.