Leadership, Presence and Charisma

Over the past year or so, I have been working towards completing my L3 checklist. One of the major steps of this process is the creation and occasional revisiting of a detailed self-review. This review specifically must address strengths and weaknesses in the 9 identified qualities of an L3 judge. As I have been spending some time contemplating these qualities, I realized each individual quality is worth a discussion here. One topic I’ve mentioned previously is the idea that a level does not define you as a judge (though it certainly does have implications on the amount of work/testing you’ve gone through). It strikes me that many judges, therefore, may not have taken the time to think about and review their strengths and weaknesses at each of these qualities until they are contemplating going for L3. These qualities are not reserved for L3s or L3 candidates. On the contrary, many of these are characteristics of judges I see regularly, and from those who have likely not yet even thought seriously about the L3 advancement process. These qualities, therefore, serve as a nice framework for a series of blog posts.

I hope to bring a discussion of how each quality may apply or be seen at a local (L1) or area level (L2), not just at the regional level (L3). There are some very well-written articles linked in the title of each quality on the main page (as well as linked in these posts), but those focus on being successful at the L3 level. While that information is certainly useful, self-review and contemplation need not be limited to comparing yourself to a regional judge’s goals. Let’s look at the definition of the first listed quality, to start.

Level 3 Judges command the respect of players and other judges as authorities on the practice of judging and the ways in which they accomplish judging-related tasks. They have an understanding of effective leadership in a broader context both within and outside of tournaments. They are trusted by the judges whom they lead. A deficient judge may lack leadership capacity, or may confuse authority granted by a position (e.g. Head Judge) with leadership in general. He or she may have problems commanding the respect of players or judges in his or her local community. An exemplary judge is one who is acutely aware of his or her leadership capacity and capabilities. The judge is able to exert his or her influence on the community in a supportive and positive way, often subtly and through the orchestration of others. He or she inspires other judges and motivates them to work toward the goals of the Judge Program.

This is a quality that is easily witnessed in many judges regardless of level. You know that one judge that always runs the social media messaging for their local store? The one that is effectively leading their events and communities in a clear, easy-to-engage-with style? The one players routinely go to ask rules questions both in-person and on social media? The one TOs routinely request to staff their events?

That judge is displaying excellent leadership to their store and the related community! Maintaining leadership and presence is not something reserved to the L3 “stage” but rather it happens at each and every event. Leading a tournament as a helpful, approachable authority on the rules and policy is a great way to demonstrate leadership. If you happen to have the opportunity to work larger events in a leadership role, you can hone those skills to apply in leadership of other judges on your staff as well.

Presence and charisma are part of displaying this quality. It’s difficult to be a leader without displaying presence and charisma. The ability to handle yourself with poise and authority at an event, without crossing over into being authoritarian, is delicate, but definitely noticeable to your community. Your bearing and manner play a big part in how the players and judges around you react to and follow your instruction and lead. If you run your events in a lackadaisical manner, not showing much interest or care, your players will follow suit. If, however, you take charge of the room and lead everyone in a fun, engaging style, the response from your players and staff will be infinitely better, and this is easily noticed.

Developing Skills

Presence and charisma, and even leadership, are tricky characteristics to develop. Many people naturally have personality suited to displaying these traits. If you don’t, you need to be ready to work at it a bit. Charisma doesn’t come naturally to many people, but it CAN be developed. If you are shy, or a bit introverted, practice working on this development by talking to people. And I mean LOTS of people. Luckily, if you judge, you’ll find yourself at events with lots of people who share similar interests. Go out of your way to talk to players and judges. The more people you engage in conversation with, the more comfortable you will become talking with everyone. This is a simple first step to start working on charisma.

Another easy way to work at developing your presence and charisma is to practice your opening announcements. This is one of the best opportunities during judging to stand out and setyour tone set for your events. Practice what you want to say, and how you plan to say it so that you can set the tone well and establish a fun, friendly event from the get go. Pretend that everyone in the room is a friend of yours who has come over to play some games. After all, everyone is there to enjoy a game we all love and devote our time to! If you pull this off well, the TO and the players will have a much better time than if you fumble through without any forethought.

All of these are just some very basic ways you can work on or demonstrate these qualities. Another option, and likely the best one, is to identify a judge who you see these qualities in, and ask them for help developing these traits in yourself. A strong leader, especially a charismatic one, should have no trouble helping you, or finding you someone who can. Even if they themselves can’t guide you, watch how they act, and practice emulating some of the behavior and actions they display. You needn’t limit this observation to only magic events either; strong leaders can be found in many spheres of your life.

Some Examples

I took some time to delve into this wave of Exemplar (wave 7) for some examples of these traits from judges throughout the program. One of my favorite things about Exemplar is being able to find examples of quality at all levels of judges, all across the world. Here are a few that stood out to me:

From Steve Ford to Dustin D Leeuw (L3) – Dear Dustin, thank you so much for being an awesome Team Lead on Saturday at GP London 2016! Never have I met such a vibrant and energetic Team Lead who managed to infuse mundane yet critical tasks with such enthusiasm and positivity; your ever-present smile, songs and dances, bucket dilemma and sheer charisma made it a pleasure to work with you on slips! This recognition transcends all that, however, due to the incredible tenderness and care you showed me when I became unwell on Saturday. You came to find me in the Judge area and spent the better part of your lunch break looking after me. You never once lost patience and you truly helped me understand why I needed to step away from the team and look after myself in a way that a few throw-away words never could. Thank you!

From Robert Forrest to Michael Arrowsmith (L2) – I want to express my appreciation for all your hard work at the Fall Judge conference in Lenexa KS. You really brought the event together. You have a great deal of passion for the program and for other judges. Your charisma is far more than most people’s, and I immediately looked up to you after just meeting you (and not just because you’re taller than me). 

From Chris Lansdell to Samantha Harr (L1)- This should really be two recognitions, but I’m not allowed to do that in the same window. At SCG Richmond we met for the first time, and I was very impressed by your thirst for knowledge and desire to improve. You constantly looked for ways to learn from me and other experienced judges on side events. You grilled me for advice on public speaking and shadowed several judges. To top it all off you then wrote me a review, which rarely happens for me. It was a good review too! The biggest part of this recognition comes from your work in your local community. By all accounts you are highly respected there, and have turned a somewhat difficult environment into a far more welcoming one by sheer force of will and charisma. Your social media posts about your efforts to make LGS events special are definitely above and beyond what any judge is expected to do, and should be held up as an example of a way to engender a feeling of community at a local store. Your efforts have been recognised even from afar, and I hope the recognitions you will receive will show others what can be achieved with a little effort and a lot of love. 

From Alasdair Howe to Serge Yager (L1)- A nomination on behalf of Adrian Smart, with which I agree entirely: “During my first event (the EMN prerelease), he took it upon himself to mentor me and reinforce the importance of seizing the initiative. He demonstrated good leadership and a high degree of competence. His attitude toward and involvement in building a positive and inclusive environment is an asset to this community.” 

I hope this post (and this series) will cause you to think about some of the qualities you have and how you can use them best as a judge. Until next time, keep on thinking about improvement, and watching for great actions and behaviors around you.