Ubuntu Wiki

Local Community team leadership

Note: A new Leadership Code of Conduct has been put together and approved at the Community Council. The following information may soon be removed completely and is kept while transitioning to the new Leadership Code of Conduct.

There are two meanings of the term leader. One is tell others what to do, the other is others follow you because you set a good example. The first concept does not work well in any volunteer organization, and Ubuntu Local Teams are no exception.

Some teams work quite well without a formally-appointed leader. Some teams elect their leader. Some, unfortunately, do have problems finding a structure that works for them. Ultimately, however, every team has one or more leaders, whether or not they're formally elected or appointed.

The Ubuntu community cannot, and does not want to, prescribe which formal structure its local teams should use. We want to document what works, and which problems to avoid.

A local community team leader should ...

• Be active in and part of the community or group that they are representing. They should be visible and accessible.
• Lead by example, not by telling others what to do.

• eventually, become an Ubuntu Member. See here for details.

• Remind people of the Ubuntu Code of Conduct, if necessary. It's important that the level of respect in Ubuntu stretches to all Ubuntu communities.

• When wearing their Ubuntu Local Community Team Leader hats, leaders should be reasonably impartial about political or cultural conflict. Try to reflect Ubuntu's apolitical stance and don't confuse the issues.
• Finally, a leader should step down gracefully if he or she is no longer able to be a good community team leader. There is no shame and no harm in being too busy to do the job well, but there is in being too busy, not saying anything, and blocking the work of an entire group.

Notes

Feel free to suggest improvements to this page to JonoBacon, or on the CommunityCouncilAgenda.

CategoryLoCoTeams