As I was reading through the forums, I found a response from Fog to a thread that I really liked and wanted to make sure that it got read by others, as well as I wanted to take some time to add my own thoughts to it.
"The ranking system isn't designed to be a race. It's designed to take years to get to the finish line. Through your journey as a member you should make the transition from caring about points to caring about family. You ask any of our really long time members and they don't care about honor points or contribution. They do it naturally without asking for reward. I've designed this system to take time. I don't want people overnight hitting the top and thats exactly what happened before with RIFT and GW2 when people gamed the system. I threw in stop gaps like contribution points and time as factors to try to slow people down. I want everyone to make that transition.
It's the point at which "Guild" becomes "Family" and you start talking about us in a whole different way. When you enter people use the word "Guild" to describe us. Over time they evolve to call us 'family' "
I'm working on ranking up so I can help lead the family, and I agree. I've been in guild leadership positions outside of Gaiscioch, before I joined, and watched as people clawed their way up "guild" ranks for that "shiny officer crown" which really doesn't exist I also saw it from the grunt standpoint. I created my own "guild" at one point, because I wanted to take my vision and turn it into reality. I wanted a family friendly guild that ran together, talked in guild chat together, and had fun, and did well. I never could pull it off, because I could not find anyone who shared my vision and purpose, until I joined the Gaiscioch.
Gaiscioch is built in a way that you can do "officer" things, without being an official officer. I'm a Lorgair at the moment, and I have access to leadership things like planning events, posting events that count towards other's fellowship and my own valor, and other things that I thought I would most likely have to be a bootlicker if I really wanted to do. But Fog has come up with a system that is absolutely brilliant, so that way the dedicated will make it to the top and will grow to understand some of the essentials about being a leader.
Leaders are team players. They work with others, and they help out. The answer questions. Every time I have asked Fog or another Elder a question, I've gotten a response as soon as possible, it would seem.
Leaders understand that there is no power in leadership, it is only responsibility. You don't see too many good leaders who don't appear worn out. That's because they understand the weight of their responsibility. They also understand the care and the love that needs to be going into being a leader. Drill sergeant style leadership is all well and good - in the army. In other things, you need to care about those who are under you, as most people would say. From my leadership experience, I stopped thinking about them as under me. They are my team. The people I am tasked to guide, I can't do anything without them. What makes me, as a leader, better than them? It certainly isn't the fact I was told that I need to guide them and take them where we want to be.
Leaders also understand that while you need to care about those you are leading, they also understand that they can't be buddy-buddy with everyone. Sometimes you have to say "This is how it is." Because that is part of your responsibility. In order to make certain what you and the others around you are doing goes off right, you must say "This is how it is." And sometimes you screw up. That happens too. But good leaders will listen to those around them and readjust, and fix things.
Like Fog said, you can't learn what is essential in leadership without taking the time to do the process. Many, many people don't have too many leadership opportunities. I have been blessed to have been able to be in Boy Scouts in real-life, and have been able to learn leadership skills that way. I lead an Eagle Project, and earned my Eagle, and that was a grueling process of getting people to work together. But it came together. I also have had leadership in other ways too, in school, church, and the opportunity of being able to train team members at work. Many of the people I have led have become close friends because of the way I view leadership.
Fog's approach to this training is a very wise, very intelligent system that I wish had been developed by more leaders, both in video-game guilds, and in real life, with different applications for whatever they are doing. If I ever choose to step away from Gaiscioch and try to run my own guild of some sort, which would be a poor decision on my part, I would want to talk to Fog about borrowing his system. I've noted that all the people who have followed through with Fog's program are great leaders, and great people. His system works, and I believe that it is part of the success of the Gaiscioch as a whole. The best come out to the top, because of their persistence and the lessons they learn.
Foglahda, I salute you.
