Need a decent BOL? Do we need someone like you here with us?

[Jabba]

I don't think there is a lot of point getting hung up on Leadership styles at this point , leadership and leaders will forutunately /unfortunately change with the situation depending on what style of leadership is required to make the best choices in that situation.

It would be nice to sit down now and say 'right , this is how its going to work and whats going to happen' , but the situation is fluid and as of yet , unmaterialised.

I think the best way would be to find people 1st that you can work with and think may make suitable inclusions and then when the time is right to make an official invite discuss the 'grand plan and ethics'.

I agree! You need to be able to respond and adapt to the circumstance, so the most critical thing is having a group of people that have the best chance of working together effectively and start with a clean slate, so things like 'ownership' don't create feelings of insecurity or festering malcontent that make it harder to start down the road of efficiency, effectiveness and equality.

If the need for leadership arises then it must never be forced (respect is earned not taken). If 'the group' was fractionalising then 'the group' would have to decide whether it required a leader, what the contraints of leadership should be, how the leader was determined and for how long etc. This is something that can be resolved with a few hours of discussion in a small group, so doesn't really require urgent emphasis imo.

Leadership only becomes a big problem when the group gets really large, or members of a small group lack emotional intelligence/empathy, or perhaps start to feel disenfranchised/threatened/insecure and respond 'out of character' to the inevitable stresses.

One love!

[Jabba]

I have a lot of the survivalist and self-sufficiency skills already, but an electrician, mechanic and plumber would be essential if we wanted to ensure some level of long term comfort and be able to fix things.

I would obviously take an amateur plumber who I trusted to learn the craft properly and got on well with over a 20 year veteran plumber who was a twit.

It would also make sense for everyone in the group to learn a bit about an extra trade, as losing someone, or some people not making it here, would be very possible and might leave a big knowledge gap with no one to fill it.

[TeeDee]

It would also make sense for everyone in the group to learn a bit about an extra trade, as losing someone, or some people not making it here, would be very possible and might leave a big knowledge gap with no one to fill it.

Yes I completely concur , as soon as you have a core group of required skill , cross training would enable a far stronger group dynamic and appreciation of each other skills and abilities.

I look forward to hearing more of this project and love the attitude ( pragmatic & shared tribal as opposed to feudal ) your suggesting its conducted in.

[Chef]

I reckon some sort of engineer would be a useful addition too, someone who knows their way around a metalwork shop or someone with blacksmithing skills for repairing/making tools, and a carpenter.

Unless of course you possess any of those skills between you and your mate?

And a library of practical books for your members to learn the new skills from.

Oooh and an apiarist or someone with knowledge of keeping bees would be pretty handy too, wax & honey are always useful, especially as neither ever go off. Got some plans for a beehive somewhere but no idea how to keep bees, I guess given the equipment you could learn it from a book though?

C

[Attack Warning Red]

I'm not 'getting hung up on leadership styles'. I just think it's a good idea to set out how it would work, before anyone goes ahead with it. One would need to know, basically, what the deal is: Where you fit in in the heirachy, what happens if you can't work, who has authority to tell you what to do, can you be chucked out etc. etc.

The last thing you'd want is to turn up, and find that this or that fella is in charge of your 'work group', and you basically have to put in x hours of labour a day to earn your food. Or 'this' is your job, and that's it. Or this guy's the leader, and whatever he says goes. Or when things start getting crappy, you're simply chucked out from the community - with nothing and nowhere to go.

I just think it's good to get things agreed early on, to save problems later.

[TeeDee]

I'm not 'getting hung up on leadership styles'. I just think it's a good idea to set out how it would work, before anyone goes ahead with it. One would need to know, basically, what the deal is: Where you fit in in the heirachy, what happens if you can't work, who has authority to tell you what to do, can you be chucked out etc. etc.

The last thing you'd want is to turn up, and find that this or that fella is in charge of your 'work group', and you basically have to put in x hours of labour a day to earn your food. Or 'this' is your job, and that's it. Or this guy's the leader, and whatever he says goes. Or when things start getting crappy, you're simply chucked out from the community - with nothing and nowhere to go.

I just think it's good to get things agreed early on, to save problems later.

@AWR , Apologies if you thought my comment was aimed specifically at you , just my general view not aimed at anyone.

[Attack Warning Red]

No worries TeeDee!

I just think people should be fully aware of what they're getting themselves into, that's all. It's easy to get carried away with an idyllic idea. There was this guy called Jim Jones once...

[bulldogeagle]

just my 4penny worth but, you want people with this or that skill, so if people havent got the skill you want-you arent going to let them in? have i got that right??

[nickdutch]

Sounds too beautiful for words man. but I have chosen Oxfordshire as my location

[Chef]

Kinda raises another question. How far away do you go to look for these people?

From say London to Pembrokshire would be a nightmare journey, assuming you could even get out of London, from further away it'd be even worse.

If I'm still in this country when TSHTF I certainly won't be heading inland, I'll be hitting the harbour and then the Channel, I don't drive so although I 'can' drive I'd be pretty rusty at it that makes bugging out to the countryside highly improbable.

If I were really stuck as an urban explorer I know the entrances to quite a few tunnel complexes and bunkers in this area but I couldn't stock them up so it'd have to be the sea for me.

How far would you realistically expect people would be able to travel in a worst case scenario?

C