2001-08-27 - 11:49 p.m.

Planetarion: Leadership Qualities

So, for the last couple of weeks I have been Galactic Commander of my galaxy in the online game Planetarion. It's not really a position I sought, but it is mine anyway. I was just wondering: how the hell did I get here?

It seems to me that all this happened almost against my will, like I was just a cog in some natural, involuntary process.

Because of Sharon's (our former GC) ill-treatment of Lily and myself, we became unofficial leaders of the opposition. The split in the galaxy turned into a fissure after the events detailed here and I began picking up votes in earnest.

Sharon, instead of trying to negotiate, continued to alienate galaxy members and I continued to pick up votes. At any time she could have stopped this by formally apologizing, but she never even came close.

Finally, two weeks ago, she irrevocably pissed off the people who held the swing votes, and I became Galactic Commander.

I'm finding out that being GC is a lot different than being Leader of the Opposition. For example, as GC I am GC of the WHOLE galaxy, not just the people who agree with me. I still have to defend and find defense for people that hate me. The people who don't like me (Sharon, her husband Johnny, their friends Terror and Kru) are opposing me at every turn. Except now they have a certain freedom - they can say or do almost anything because they have nothing to lose, while I do.

So basically this means that I have to eat some dirt, and restrain myself from lashing out at people bad-mouthing me. It isn't easy - Terror and Johnny seem to be keeping up an almost non-stop rain of abuse.

So, I'm learning to be more diplomatic. After all: "Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing in the nicest way."

You know, I seem to wind up being the Boss or President of a lot of things I get involved in. I would say that if you hang around anything long enough, someone will hand you the sword of leadership - and then quickly run away before you can hand it back to them.

Being Boss is generally a pain in the ass. If things go right, everyone assumes that because they are supposed to go that way. If they DON'T go right - it is immediately seen as your fault. It's a thankless job.

I mean, I was president of a number of clubs in High School and I was president of some local organizations around here, but this is the first time that I have actually been a leader of a group that has actually been in opposition to another group.

Now this may not seem to be so important because this round of Planetarion is almost over. However, we have already made firm plans for next round and it looks like I am going to be GC of that galaxy, too. Nearly all the strong players of this galaxy are going with us, so my responsibility is extending into the next round as well.

Because there are people that really hate us, it is very important for us to quickly become a powerful galaxy next round. Once Sharon and Johnny and Arthur and their friends find us, we can expect almost non-stop attacks. Hopefully by the time that happens we will be too big for them to hit. And it would also be nice to find them first and smack them around a bit. I know, I am a meanie.

However I had a little epiphany a couple days ago. As I mentioned above, we are recruiting serious players for our galaxy next round. This means that a lot of the inactive players in our current galaxy are not really wanted. Well, a couple of them supported me through the crisis and are still voting me. I was taking the point of view that it was each players' responsibility to find a galaxy next round, but it just wasn't sitting right with me. The people who supported me deserved better than that. If I couldn't get them in my galaxy next round, I could certainly help them find another good galaxy.

I contacted each of them, and they all seemed surprised that I was willing to help them. So far, I've found places for all of them and everyone seems happy.

And so I stumbled upon a simple truth of leadership: take care of your people and they'll take care of you.

I remember when I was little and my parents used to get reports from my teachers and councilors, something that was mentioned frequently was that I had "good leadership qualities." Upon reflection, this was probably happy horseshit: for the most part I was so fearful I hardly communicated with my peers at all. Some leader! I think this was just something pleasant (and hard to define) to say to parents to make them feel good.

Now, for some reason, I feel like I am being a real leader for the first time in my life, not just someone who was unwillingly put in charge of something. Well, it's only a galaxy in a pretend universe, but it’s a start!

Countdown: 15 days behind