S.S.: Looking back, are there any decisions or practices you would change, and if so, why?

J.M.: I would insist on a clear written agreement between all significant shareholders on how key aspects of the ownership role would be handled, such as exit plans, personal guarantees, level of acceptable risk, short-term goals, and longterm goals. If the owners are not in perfect alignment, the business never can be.

The people who are in leadership seats at a twelve-person company are not likely to be the same people you want in those seats when the company grows larger. But they remain in those seats at a lot of companies to the detriment of the company and, ultimately, the careers of those individuals. The people in roles need to change to make sure their skills and contributions are best aligned with what the company needs from them to be successful.

S.S.: What is the most important thing you would tell someone making that transition within their company?

J.M.: You can (and I believe should) be friendly with people, but you cannot retain close friendships with people who you need to lead. You can pretend that you are able to, but when you control their livelihood, it simply is not a workable dynamic. It is best to embrace your new role fully or not to enter it at all.

A company leader has to be able to make very tough decisions that have very large ramifications on the lives of individuals. If you are not willing to do this with clear eyes on what will make the company stronger (thus ultimately helping the most people), you will not succeed as a leader. This doesn't mean you need to be cold, or that you should hide your agendas -- just that there is a difference between "friendly" and "friendship," and it is important to realize the distinction early.

S.S.: Were there any people who helped, and if so how?

J.M.: Other leaders in the company helped. Otherwise, finding people in similar roles in other companies -- even ones in vastly different fields -- was beneficial simply to understand what most everyone had to deal with and what was more specific to my situation. I found it very helpful to just have a safe and confidential environment where I could bounce ideas, vent, whatever, and not worry at all about the effect on the company.

S.S.: What are the most common traits shared by other effective leaders in your experience?

J.M.: Openness, communication, trustworthiness, integrity, ability to motivate, willingness to take measured risks, not procrastinating, understanding that being in charge doesn't mean being the expert.

S.S.: Which traits do you feel are your strongest and how does knowledge of these traits affect how you approach leadership challenges?

J.M.: Getting people to work in a common direction, and openness. I prefer employing everyone to help move the company in a particular direction instead of trying to do it all myself.

S.S.: What are the worst traits a leader has exhibited in your experience?

J.M.: Randomness, thinking one is the expert on everything, being wishy-washy, weak willed, easily overwhelmed, operating from fear, pretending to be a celebrity.

S.S.: How did these traits manifest themselves, and what was the result of their involvement in terms of the team, project, and/or company?

J.M.: Having a leader who is not consistent and who does not articulate where the company is going causes constant problems with direction and morale. People will not do their best because they have no clear goal in front of them, or, worse yet, will look to leave.

S.S.: Are there any leadership traits you admire or perhaps aspire toward but don't feel you embody? If so, how do you feel embodying these traits would make you a better leader? Do you consciously try to develop these traits? Do you mentor other leaders?

J.M.: Greater sense of being proactive on the large scale decisions that can dramatically affect the success of the company. I am attempting to develop this. I do mentor other leaders, usually by modeling behavior.

S.S.: Do you have any training in leadership, either formal or unstructured (e.g., armed forces experience)? If relevant, in what ways do you apply that training to challenges in your job?

J.M.: No.

S.S.: What do you see as the toughest challenge facing leads during a gamedevelopment project cycle or at a game-development company generally? How have you seen this handled most and least effectively?

J.M.: Leads generally are great at their discipline, and very often people who are great at their discipline are not great at leading people. They are two very different skill sets, and it is simply random as to whether someone has both -- having one is not a predilection toward the other. In the worst case, new leads are thrown onto a team and expected to know how to communicate, how to run meetings, how to motivate, how to effectively discipline, how to appropriately filter information from a publisher, etc. It can work well to make them a sub-lead first, or a lead on a small project with experienced leads as mentors.

S.S.: What are some common mistakes you've seen leads make, be they new or experienced?

J.M.: Most commonly, it is speaking for the people on their team without getting input. For example, deciding on schedules without talking to the people actually doing the work. This destroys morale and breeds friction as each party will blame the other when the project runs late, but the lead may not hear it publicly due to the employee's concern for his or her job. The very most important thing for a new lead to learn is how to communicate, listen, and to make informed decisions that build teams and do not destroy them.

Many new leads struggle with how much they need to command versus listen, communicate, collaborate, and guide. New leads sometimes need a lot of mentoring on this point from more experienced managers. It is common for a lead to think that this means "telling people what to do" when in fact it is a lot more about listening.

S.S.: How have you seen new leads best get support from directors or executives?

J.M.: Mentoring. Sometimes skill seminars, but I'm not sure how well these work.

S.S.: Do you think good leaders can be trained? Or is the essence of a good leader simply innate ability?

J.M.: It is innate, but can be trained from there. Some people are not leaders and will never be leaders. A slim few are innately good right away. More commonly, people have the ability but it has to be developed, trained, and practiced -- like pretty much every other skill you can think of.

[For those looking for more information on the book, we note that friend of Gamasutra and industry worker Mark Cooke has recently reviewed Team Leadership In The Game Industry.]