About Me

1. About Me

   #1

   Maybe a tiny bit self-indulgent but knowing some of this may help you all understand me a bit more and the reason I do things the way I do.
   
   
   I am a First Sergeant in the Air Force. I have been doing this particular job for about 5 years but it is a difficult road to get there. Italy is the third foreign country I have lived in (Spain, Japan, Italy) and I have been deployed to Iraq. So I have been around the block a little and have experienced much of what the military has to offer and have to deal with things like this as my primary job. Yes, I am currently dealing with that situation so perhaps I am more on edge than usual.
   
   
   My duty requires me to deal with peoples problems daily. It doesn't make me an expert of this online world by any stretch but my job has established a way I tend to deal with things. In my job I deal with people's problems every day and direct them to those that can help or deal with it myself. When I do this, 9 times out of 10 it is done privately, behind closed doors, with a supervisor and the situation is handled.
   
   
   The fact is, people make mistakes...all the time. And in very few instances is it necessary to take that person in front of their peers and point out these mistakes. It has a negative effect on the individual and it harms the morale of the unit. If we jack up everybody publicly for mistakes, then nobody wants to admit or come forward when they have a mistake and that is even worse. We need a place where people aren't scared to make a mistake.
   
   
   The philosophy of the position is take the minimal action required to establish the required change. So start of slow and increase in severity till they get it or you kick them out.
   
   
   That is not to hide wrong doings, it is a courtesy to the accused. I try to never take action without getting both sides of the story. That is just common sense. Additionally, my job requires me to deal fairly with both the accused and the victim since I need to take care of the all people and unit. If I take a rumor (or fact) and immediately condemn somebody then I take my ability to help and correct them out of the picture and turn it into and adversarial situation. If I continue to act on rumor then my position is undermined and lose any authority or impact I have because they believe I don't care what the truth is. I can't help people when they think I am the enemy and am out to get them. So I don't ever put myself in that position.
   
   
   So that leads to a couple simple things on the site.
   
   
   1) I trust the leadership I work with. You are the Citadel's leadership. I trust you to act appropriately and handle situations. I will back you on pretty much any decision you make.
   
   
   However...
   
   
   2) When I make a request, I am used to it being followed without personal interpretation or modification. If there is a deviation, in my job, I expect people to ask for clarification. My position in the AF gives me some very broad authority so, for good or will, when I ask questions or make statements they are often, correctly, interpreted as lawful orders and carried out as I direct. If changes need to be made, they know the must request permission. Not very often to I have to make explicit requests as I am a manipulative son of a bitch that can imply things so that others can decide to do things on their own and they get the credit for them. In those cases I don't tell them how to do it, I tell them what I want done. As long as I get the desired result, I am good, else I turn directive.
   
   
   There is a leadership saying that works here. I tell you that I want to know what time it is, I don't care how you make the clock. I try not to micromanage and make this huge list of rules to follow. I trust your instincts but, again, if I make a request, I would appreciate the courtesy of asking before you take a different action if you don't agree with it.
   
   
   3) The challenge button. That is not for admins, that is for members to bring stuff to our attention. If an admin has an issue with something then we discuss it here. There are very few instances where something needs to be identified or pulled without a discussion here first. That is something we have always done and I would like to continue. I am not in a hurry. Waiting a day or two won't hurt anybody, in most cases.
   
   
   4) If something major goes down, I need to be the bad guy. I want to be the bad guy because the site is mine and when I make a decision, there is a finality to it. If one of you do something then it could be deemed personal and the person will think that they still have recourse to come to me for more complaints about the situation. This just continues to prolong whatever it is. Generally, when I make a decision then I spend the time (like I am now) to explain the position and there is nothing little left to question. I first request both sides of the story and then fully rationalize my decision. It is not that I don't trust you to do that, it is more that I want that responsibility for myself. That is why we discuss everything and the admins usually know what I am doing by the time we get to that point. I don't go it alone, I just reserve the right to take the final action...which is usually the initial action as we discuss things before we do something.
   
   
   5) Minor crap, whatever it is, go for it. Any admin type actions need to be discussed in this forum so we know what each other is doing. But, really, how much effort goes into that kind of stuff here? Admins job here mostly consist of being a productive member of the site and being a positive influence to other users and visitors.
   
   
   I might have more but it is getting too much and I have to leave for work. Just wanted to put some things in the open for what its worth.

2. Re: About Me

   #2

   I read this the first day it went up, then decided to give some thought to my response before replying.
   
   In short, this puts the way things are normally (and preferably done)  here at Strolens in an admin capacity into a much better context, and makes it much easier for us newcomers, (and likely veterans as well) to work with the system then unintentionally go against the grain and cause a whole passel of problems in the process.
   
   When I first became an admin (alongside Mourn) over a year ago, I remember seeing the rules for the first time and being a bit mystified, with rule #1 a literal blank slate, and rule #2 referring back to that blank slate.
   
   I misinterpreted this lack of rules/guidelines to read that we were free to administrate as we saw fit, as long as the citadels integrity was upheld and we stayed on top of things and did not abuse/misuse our capabilities.
   
   I see now that interpretation was a serious error on my part, and I'd been unwittingly operating under this misinterpretation ever since, and assumed that's how everyone else handled things and always had since the beginning.
   
   Seeing it clarified like this is a welcome guide, and makes it much easier to function in an admin capacity without wondering just where the lines are and just how to stay within the boundaries of our responsibility/authority and not cause a mess.
   
   Thank you Strolen for putting this up, I hope all new Admins have a chance to read this as well in the future and get a better understanding of how things are to be preferably handled, and just as importantly why. :up:
   
   (Had this thread existed a few days ago I would have certainly handled the mess with Di far differently, and not been quite such an attack dog and bit into it as hard as I did; a method I admit has served me well in the past, and is the preferred approach to administration on Guntoters.com where I also spend much of my time as an administrator/global moderator.)

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