Playing at Politics
Quick note on WoW going alright. Quicker with the progress through the raid. Practice for our otherwise-usual tank on Alysrazor. A second person getting a look at flying on that fight. My Ret-self hasn't undergone dramatic improvement, but continues to work just fine. All good. More drama than usual, though, starting early even. That wasn't so good and had a few people more tense than should be.
Which, in turn, got me thinking about "playing politics." I've said before and I'll probably say again that I probably could be good at it, but I don't really want to. In another life, a few choices different, a little more purpose in my college days, and I might even have been a politician. Scary.
But the principles apply at more levels than running for Congress. A lot of the theories can apply on multiple levels. Getting along with people at work or running an in-game guild...
One of the big elements of being in a leadership role is compromise. Unless you're a dictator, you've got to work with someone to get anything done. Even if you are in a sole position of leadership, there are limits to what you can enact. Resources are not limitless and if you rile the people you lead too much, you might deal with desertion or rebelion. Some level of good will among others is necessary to hold power.
And so that means playing nice with people who you may not like or agree with. At the very least, put on a smile and be polite. Better still to rein in the desire to insult and instead make such people actually think you like them. Sometimes, that's easy - careful phrasing can do wonders and people seem to underestimate the power of the internet as a veil and filter. If you have to deal with them in person, it's harder. Sometimes, you can get away with a fascade of behavior, but often you'll genuinely have to "give" some in the give-and-take.
At times, I'm amazed that some people either don't grasp these concepts or can't adhere to them. I know we're all different, but at the same time some of this seems to elementary to me. So simple. Almost second nature. It makes me wish I could play real-time PR filer once in a while, but that's a luxury we don't have.
... I don't know. There feels like a lot more in my mind about it, but I don't know how to get it all out at the moment...
Which, in turn, got me thinking about "playing politics." I've said before and I'll probably say again that I probably could be good at it, but I don't really want to. In another life, a few choices different, a little more purpose in my college days, and I might even have been a politician. Scary.
But the principles apply at more levels than running for Congress. A lot of the theories can apply on multiple levels. Getting along with people at work or running an in-game guild...
One of the big elements of being in a leadership role is compromise. Unless you're a dictator, you've got to work with someone to get anything done. Even if you are in a sole position of leadership, there are limits to what you can enact. Resources are not limitless and if you rile the people you lead too much, you might deal with desertion or rebelion. Some level of good will among others is necessary to hold power.
And so that means playing nice with people who you may not like or agree with. At the very least, put on a smile and be polite. Better still to rein in the desire to insult and instead make such people actually think you like them. Sometimes, that's easy - careful phrasing can do wonders and people seem to underestimate the power of the internet as a veil and filter. If you have to deal with them in person, it's harder. Sometimes, you can get away with a fascade of behavior, but often you'll genuinely have to "give" some in the give-and-take.
At times, I'm amazed that some people either don't grasp these concepts or can't adhere to them. I know we're all different, but at the same time some of this seems to elementary to me. So simple. Almost second nature. It makes me wish I could play real-time PR filer once in a while, but that's a luxury we don't have.
... I don't know. There feels like a lot more in my mind about it, but I don't know how to get it all out at the moment...
*hugs* Sorry for the parts of the drama that were my fault and/or that I was effectively party to... Mew...
ReplyDeleteTsk. Don't see too much of yourself in these comments. Mostly I want to pound some political sense into our beloved guild leader and get him to play nice with certain other people. ;)
ReplyDelete