The Administrator

Hello, everyone. I'm sure you've all seen me around before. I've asked to be given temporary access to the administrative boards, and some administrative powers in server, to help out here and there and try and pass on whatever knowledge I've acquired over my two or three years of participating in roleplaying servers, and outside roleplaying experience. This page will be updated with new sections constantly as I work on completing this guide. For now, this is filler, but I hope that by the end of my short term as a temp admin, I will have given you all something to add to your arsenal of leadership abilities.

First thing to come will be a short outline of the guide, and after that, I will fill each individual section up with as much detail and knowledge as I can muster. You are all welcome to comment, but I may ask you all to clean up your comments if I start running out of room in a post.

More to-do. Sorting the bloody thoughts out is harder than it looks.

I. To be an Administrator
---- A. Time and Patience
---- B. Reserve
---- G. Trust
---- C. Understanding
---- D. Skill and Experience
---- E. Omniscience
---- F. Confidence
II. To Lead
---- A. Guide or Guillotine?
---- B. Choice
---- C. Finger-pointing and You

I. To be an Administrator.

It's not easy, no matter how competent you think you are. It's only fun if it's what you want. Above all, it's not a role you make, it's a role you fill. As I like to say but rarely get to, "It's not the man that makes the office, it's the office that makes the man." When you fill this role, the most important thing to note is that, most of the time, you will have to change yourself to meet its demands, rather than force the world around you to change.

It takes a few qualities to be a good administrator. It takes many to be a great one. Every person is capable of each quality on some level or another, the must simply acknowledge that they are. Some people like to retrofit their management styles, 'develop as they go,' but that's not how reality works. You cannot build upon a weak base and expect it to hold up, and this analogy holds true to every aspect of the world. Some people may try to change their styles to fit with needs, but adapting is not the same as restructuring because adapting merely changes how you approach a situation, and in the end, your final judgment is unlikely to change because you, as a person, have not changed.

No, to be a great administrator, you must possess the following qualities.

A. Time and Patience.

The Administrator must be patient, and able to manage their time. They must have spare time, for that matter, and anyone without it should not force themselves to administrate. The worst example you could provide is hurting yourself to meet the needs of others. This should never be the case for someone holding as great a responsibility as an administrator. Patience, again, is also key, because real problems will often take time to sort out. Getting tired, annoyed, 'bored, frustrated, is not an option, and you will see why later on. You must always remain patient and calmly and systematically deal with issues. Assume that there is always a solution, and further assume that eventually, you will find that solution, and for that reason, you will persevere until the reason is found. This patience will not only ensure seeing through problems, but also keeping a level head through them. As you develop your patience, you can only get better at it. It is an invaluable skill.

B. Reserve.

Speak softly and carry a big stick. The iron fist should always wear a velvet glove. Those with power should rarely show it. The general idea behind these concepts has been around forever, and the reasons behind its use are both numerous and proven true. As you may have guessed, they're another cornerstone to being a good admin.

Remain reserved at all times. Use power, but use the least amount necessary to solve an issue. When you overdo it, you make yourself seem undignified and weaken your authority, as well as your legitimacy or right to use authority. You make an act that would often be feared seem commonplace. Above all, you lose trust from everyone around you.

Do note; Kain does have SUPERADMIN rights on server, and is supposed to have it. But unlike the head administrators, he does NOT have IMMUNITY.

AKA: Don't worry about Kain's superadmin. He's supposed to have it.