Dark Phoenix Quadrant
Welcome, thanks,
and a few of my views! I am HoS
DuQwi' Sutai-Devnoh (Chris Jones). Welcome to those
other Warriors who like me are new to KAG's higher
command leadership, and my thanks to those who
welcomed me to my new appointment as Dark Phoenix
Quadrant Commander.
Those who know me have heard my views on many KAG
matters. Some things I believe are important to KAG's
glory and the enjoyment of the membership as a whole:
- Leadership - Ship Commanders should show good
leadership to those above and below them in rank and
position. Lack of leadership can very well lead to
lack of motivation and participation by the other
members. Pay attention to your ship members and their
current situations, your chain of command, event plans
and changes, etc. Some ship commanders have said "I
just want to have fun and that will lead the way".
But being a leader isn't as fun as being a crewman.
Responsibilities go with any title or position.
"What exactly would be my responsibilities in this
position?" is something any member should keep in mind
when considering the prospect of a command position.
Wanting a title or position that even suggests
authority, while at the same time wanting nothing to
do with responsibility, is an attitude that
reflects very poorly on KAG and causes loss of
confidence in other ship members.
The leader's attitude toward his or her title is the
measurement that I use to evaluate other leaders above
and below my position, and it is the same standard
that I expect of myself.
- Buddy checks - It's a good thing for members to
try
and watch out for each other. If a member is having
difficulty with another member, or a current issue
within the ship or the club, it's a good thing to ask for a
'buddy check' from another member before
taking action or speaking on that issue. I encourage
that at all levels, and recommend all leaders
do the same. This might help to avoid unnecessary
roughness between members, ships and leaders. Most
importantly, it might help to resolve an issue before
it becomes a larger one.
- Be proactive - If a ship commander sees a
potential
problem, or a potentially destructive dispute, he
should try to find out what the problem really is, and ask himself if
there is something that he can do to
head that off. I have personally seen issues fester
between members until it became a real problem, even
in public, and we never want that to happen. There
are some folks in this club who are pretty good at
mediating, so enlist their help if needed.
- Show motivation and enthusiasm, and encourage it
from others - Kinda self explanatory,
both as a
slogan and a real thing to do, at all levels
of KAG. I also encourage those at all rank levels to
show or suggest to the rest of us how to do this
better, as the ideas arise. Sometimes a little motivation and
initiative can go a long way for good
things in KAG.
- Planning - Some members are good planners, so if
someone wants to plan an event but has little
experience at it, they should turn to the more
experienced for pointers. There is no dishonor in
asking for advice, and the better the event goes, the
better it reflects on the ship, the commander, and KAG
as a whole.
- Coordination - In cases where what you want is to
maximize participation by multiple ships at an event,
you must coordinate with other ships. This insures
that there isn't duplication of effort, that nobody's
toes get stepped on, and avoids unnecessary problems
that could hurt the event. I absolutely expect this of
the ships in DPQ. I have seen unfortunate failures
caused by lack of coordination between local
ship commanders, and want to minimize that.
- Real Life - We all have real life stuff going on,
for some more than others. It is important that every
KAG leader encourage a timely report of status from warriors on whether
or not they can participate or
not, how they can help, or if they have real life
personal issues preventing them from doing so, and
about how long it will remain that way. This approach
demonstrates interest by the leadership in the status
of each crewmember, and keeps the crew in touch and
engaged.
- Honest Self-Assessment - Be honest first with
yourself, then those around you - if a KAG member
volunteers to do a task for KAG or for their ship, it
is really really important for the member who
volunteered to be upfront with what they are truly
able to do for the task. This applies on all levels,
from leaders and command staff to individual members.
If a leader drops the ball on an important task, he
cannot expect his crew to perform any better.
- Be knowledgeable - It's every commander's
responsibility to keep himself informed and up-to-date
on the rules, policies and standards of KAG.
Encourage other members as well to at least have a
look at the KAG Handbook. I don't encourage 'rules
lawyering', but KAG does have rules for good reason,
to insure that there is a standard of conduct, so all
members get as fair a shake as possible! They are not
perfect rules, but they are pretty good!
- Fun - What is it? Everyone has a different
definition. Fun for me is the pride that comes from
putting on good public events, and showing well for
our ships and KAG as a whole. Hanging out dressed
in
body armor and getting drunk on blood wine can be fun,
but if there were no more to us than that, we would
look pretty grabass and lame.
Fun to me is knowing that all the crew look pretty
good in their costumes, that we successfully plan and
carry out events, get good recognition for it, and
tell tall tales about it afterward, and not feeling so
overworked that we aren't able to tell the tales!
This goes to Klingon theme, especially the part about
--success--. I encourage all to take the more success
fun view.
In the end, we can only expect our crews and fellow
Klingons to do as well as the leaders do. I think that
this should always be kept in mind for anyone wanting
to be a leader in KAG.
All are welcome to write to me with any questions.
Qatlho'!
Qapla'!
HoS DuQwi' sutai-Devnoh (Chris
Jones)
Commander, KAG Dark Phoenix Quadrant, 2007
[email protected]
