[TheoryITP] DMing and Group Leadership

[Kalirren]

I'm currently in a class in grad school devoted to improving our group work skills, and I was noticing that most of my intuition about how small groups work and interact comes from my roleplaying experience.

So then I turned the analogy backwards, being that I'm also interested (just look at my sig) in RP theory and the OOC group dynamics that underlie successful games, and I wanted to put forth the following series of questions to the general wisdom of this forum:

1) Every play group is different, and each has different emergent norms of behavior. What leadership techniques have been considered acceptable or unacceptable for use by a) players and b) GMs by the various play groups you have been in?

2) Does your past play experience support or run contrary to the proposition that successful GM'ing necessitates being an effective leader in any play group?

3) Does a moderator who fails to lead the group inevitably make the play group dysfunctional?

[arguskos]

Does a moderator who fails to lead the group inevitably make the play group dysfunctional?

Absolutely. No doubts at all. Unless the group is amazingly (and I mean AMAZINGLY) well organized, they will fall apart without a guide of some type, at least, this has held for the 12 years I've been playing. Each time the DM takes a passive, non-moderating or leading, role, the game goes to pieces.

EDIT: I guess this means that my response to #2 would be: yes, my experience does support that theory.