I think I ask more of leaders than most others I know. I feel a good leader needs to do things beyond what one should expect of a person. This is because, though a normal leader can allow groups to achieve their goals and won’t ruin any groups, a truly good leader can make groups of people amazing. A good leader can motivate people to go over and beyond their goals, and feel delighted doing it.

When discussing raid leading in particular, there are a few things I ask of myself as the leader.

1) Deal with the basics of raid leading well: deal with loot, set up the right people for the right fight, make call outs during the fight in a way that’s helpful to people, etc.
a) Dealing with loot itself can be tiring, especially since I don’t care about loot (performing well when you have really good loot doesn’t feel good at all; performing well in spite of gear limitations is what truly feels great). But most people care a lot about loot, and this can easily cause a lot of drama. In my opinion, the best way to deal with this is to be extremely principled. There are times when I do loot and I prefer person A to get loot as opposed to person B, since person A may benefit much more or this may benefit the raid much more. But I never even consider giving it to person A if person B has won it, though I may ask person B if they’re willing to pass, and give them my reasons. Any loot drama that may arise is more easily quenched, I believe, when you and others know you’re fair, even when it goes against your desires.
b) Setting up the fight and calling things out in a way that truly benefits the raid feels to me almost like an art, at the point I’m at. If done well, I feel it can make an enormous difference. It can make people focus on the things they really need to focus on, and negate any really tough problems that may arise. This particular point needs an article all on its own to discuss.

2) Create an atmosphere that is beneficial to the raid progressing smoothly. My personal preference is to have the atmosphere be relaxed but focused.
a) I know many leaders don’t want their raids to be relaxed, because they believe tension will improve people’s concentration. Or at least, the atmosphere they create leads me to believe this. However, I have never performed well when I was always worried about being yelled at, or focused on what’s bad. I have always performed better in an atmosphere where things were chill, and my motivation to do well came from a desire to be great rather than a fear of not being good enough. So I prefer to create a more relaxed atmosphere for my raids. However, this means I need to pick and choose the right type of people for it. I need people who are personally motivated to push themselves.
b) Keeping people focused is an incredibly important skill for a leader, in my opinion. I think part of it is making people feel you expect them to do well. Not just do well. You expect them to go beyond what they would expect of themselves, and you believe they have this ability. Keeping this feeling up isn’t all that easy, and as a leader I feel whenever I slack at this, I’m failing my group.
c) I also want the atmosphere of the group to be one of trust in one another. I try to gather people I know to be very good at playing, and I feel like as the leader, I should work to get them to know each other well and bond together. When there is that element of trust, everything that is done together becomes something far more exhilarating than when done well alone. Like with bridge players.

3) Get to know the members of the group, insofar as you know what makes them click and what their pet peeves would be. Without being able to assess each individual raider well, I wouldn’t know how best to motivate them. I have players who fear boredom like the plague, and knowing that, I can push them to do things that are extremely challenging, to keep them from being bored. I also have players who don’t deal with failure well, and with players like this I can’t keep pushing them or else they’ll get too stressed out. Just to give one example.

4) Constantly create new goals for the group. People do better when they feel they have something to strive for. I do this for myself, but most people don’t do this for themselves, and as the leader I can easily, with a bit of thought, do this for us all.

I feel like there are a lot more, but I’m too tired now to remember what they are.