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R6 Siege
Leadership Basics

Discover the fundamentals of leading in Rainbow Six Siege!

"Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise"

- Michael Jordan

Leadership:
definition

Leadership is the craft of inspiring others through social interactions to maximize efforts to achieve a mutual goal.
 
Leadership is present, and in fact, necessary in all aspects of our lives. And Rainbow Six Siege is not an exception!

Despite common misconceptions, especially of self-proclaimed leaders, leadership does not come from authority or power an individual may have. 

Nah, man. A leader is a person that others want to follow
It is an individual who knows the goal of the team and knows what steps are necessary to achieve that goal.
The real leader does not tell team members what they need to do. Instead, a skilled leader uses inspiration and communication to help players become who they need to become to achieve their full potential and goals.

Sounds hard? Well, it ain’t easy, and not all of us are natural-born leaders.
The good news is that everyone can work to develop the right mindset and skills necessary for effective leadership in Rainbow Six Siege.

Leadership IN
R6
Siege

When it comes to R6 Siege, a leader can be:
In-Game Leader

AKA “IGL.”, an IGL is one of the players on the team who calls shots during the match.

Such a person decides on tactics and tends to give signals for the execution of specific actions in the plan (i.e. timing of defuser plant).

On top of that, IGL is a person who should make changes to a strategy depending on how the round unfolds.
Between the rounds, IGL can make necessary adjustments with team members.

The name of the role (IGL) implies the function of the leader within the match. However, such a role can also extend to the coaching function, outside of matches, as well.

Professional E-sports teams always have an IGL, but even a group of friends playing in Bronze ranks can decide to have such a role in the squad.

Therefore, the IGL role can be established on basically any level of R6 Siege.

TEAM COACH

Coach plays a significant role in the leadership of the group. The impact of this role is, however, mainly outside of the match.

Most of the time, the coach will not be an active player on the team due to two excellent reasons.

First, it is a very time and effort consuming role as part of the job is to study the game and design tactics for the team.
Second, managing individual characters and chemistry of the team is more effective when a leader is not a peer emotionally impacted by the events of the match.

By not actively participating in the match, a coach can have a fresh, more objectively, and critical view on the team’s performance.
Additionally, a trainer should help every team member with spotting their weaknesses and supporting the team in overcoming them.

In R6 Siege, coaches are usually present on Professional E-sports teams. It is not typical for an amateur squad to have a coach.

If your team happens to be the lucky one to have both IGL and a Coach, then chemistry and understanding between the two are imperative to the progress of the group as a cohesive unit.
 
IGL needs to be an extension of the coach during the match. He has to perfectly understand tactics, with their weaknesses and strengths, as well as have a good game sense.

Leadership:
Keys & Responsibilities

Four essential keys to successful leadership in Rainbow Six Siege:
  1. Building confidence and trust.
  2. Effective communication that will:
    1. Enable teammates to understand the team’s overall strategy.
    2. Help team members recognize how their performance and tasks contribute to the team’s objective.
    3. Support constructive feedback on how the team and an individual are performing.
  3. Gaining an understanding of the team on both total and individual levels.
  4. Creating a growth environment that allows continuous improvement.
Responsibilities of the R6 Siege leader:
  1. Source of constructive and clear communication.
  2. Encouraging team members to work together for a mutual goal.
  3. Deciding on the tactic.
  4. Recognition of bad habits.
  5. Setting an example.
  6. Making corrections down the road.

Leadership:
principles

There are many ways in which you can lead the R6 Siege team. Each leader will choose their own methods and style, usually driven by their personality and dynamics within the team.
 
Regardless of your style in leadership, you should follow a few fundamental principles that improve your odds of becoming an effective leader, with long-term success.
PRINCIPLES OF AN EFFECTIVE LEADER:
 
SELF-KNOWLEDGE
Self-awareness is the cornerstone of your success as a leader in Rainbow Six Siege.
You cannot understand others and influence them if you are not aware of your own strengths, weaknesses, tendencies, and other aspects of your personality.
 
 
SELF-IMPROVEMENT
Improvement is the name of the game. You need to seek growth, both as a player and a leader.
You do that by assessing yourself continuously, honestly, and embracing changes.
 
Understand: There is no such thing as staying neutral to self-development. You are either improving or deteriorating. Other players in Siege are not going to sit and wait with their development, and neither should you.
 
 
DECISIVENESS
The biggest obstacle to make decisions is embracing uncertainties. Thus, improve in minimizing the time needed and mental efforts required for you to reach a conclusion.
Once you have a substantial portion of data available at your disposal, make a decision, and live with the results.
 
Remember: There are no such things as bad choices; there are only decisions. And any choice is better than no choice.
 
 
ASSERTIVENESS

People follow leaders who can express themselves in a direct, appropriate, and honest way.
You have to consider people’s opinions and desires, but do not forget about your own!

Being considerate does not mean that you always have to be nice to everybody. Adapt to the situation and the people you interact with.
Do not let others push you around!

 
 
RESPONSIBILITY

Do you want to be respected? Nothing brings as much trust and shows the strength of a person’s character as the courage to own up whatever comes their way.
Taking responsibility for problems and issues is not a natural instinct for most of us, but we can all develop such skills.

As great motivational speaker Jim Rohn said:
“The day you take full responsibility for your life is the day you become an adult.”
So next time things don’t go your way, don’t try to blame it on enemies, your teammates, Ubisoft or misaligned stars.
Admit the mistake to yourself, learn from it and move on.

 
 
LEAD BY EXAMPLE
One way or another, you will lead by example.
You could ask your teammates to play patiently, while on your own displaying signs of prioritizing kills over the team’s success.
OR, you can create an identity of a person that talks the talk, walks the walk.
 
The discrepancy between what you say and do is easily spotted by teammates. Furthermore, such discrepancy inevitably shows a lack of integrity.
 
Which person would you follow?
A leader who pushes the team to achieve improvement while barely putting any effort into his own skills?
Or a leader who works just as hard (if not the hardest) on his own mechanics?
 
 
FAIRNESS
Being just and free of favoritism may not be an easy feat to achieve in a highly competitive environment, such as R6 Siege.
However, in the long run, it is always essential to remain fair to every person within your organization or team. Even if it may result in immediate negative consequences, over time, you will maintain integrity as a person and strengthen chemistry within your Rainbow Six Siege squad.
 
 
LISTEN
Most of us rarely listen on a deep level. We are usually somewhere in between two activities.
First, trying to grasp the basic points of what the other person says, just so that we can keep the conversation going.
The second, we are preparing our own speech.
 
If you want to become a good R6 Siege leader, then you have to develop the ability to listen attentively to your team members and value their opinion. Focus on what they say and where is it coming from.
 

Toxic leader
alerts

This list is an attempt to help you spot a person who is not fit for the role of a leader of the team.

Signals may be subtle and hard to spot, but try to pay attention to recurring situations. It may save you a lot of issues, wasting time and unnecessary drama going forward.

POWER & FAME HUNGER
I read once that leader is an individual with immense dedication to the goal, who will strive towards reaching it even if nobody follows.
That sounds to me like a strong case for a good base to be a leader, wouldn’t you agree?
 
Conversely, there are many people out there who want to become a leader to gain a spotlight or to give orders. 
Such motivations are not always wrong. The most successful leaders in all fields do have charisma and are decisive people – both coming with an ability to handle the attention and get the shit done.
However, be wary of people who are primarily driven by fame and power.
 
Why?
Such types will sooner or later break your group. They will blame others for shortcomings (personal and team-wise) and take all the credit for successes.
They do not care if you succeed. Such a person wants to achieve even if that means to step over other people.
 
 
INABILITY TO DEAL WITH PROBLEMS
As Martin Luther King Jr. once said:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Of course, to lead the Siege team is not as controversial and challenging as fighting racism, but it has its own difficulties.
 
Everyone can be good when things go well, but the real strength of a character comes out when things are not going right.
Blaming others as a leader is one of the most apparent signs of bad leadership skills.
 
Remember: Pay attention to how people behave when faced with challenges. Those who cannot handle the pressure will undoubtedly find an excuse for their behavior based on external circumstances. Alternatively, they may try to sell it as a moment of weakness.
Don’t be fooled by such explanations; it’s their true insecurities and character coming out. You can rest assured it will come out again and again.
 
 
ME, MYSELF AND I
Be on a watch out for a potential IGL who is all about himself. The leader of R6 Siege team should be primarily focused on a team’s success.
 
What are the signs of an egocentric person?
Probably the most definite sign is making weird decisions that allow such a leader to look good, regardless of the negative impact on the team or its individual members.
Also, such a person will belittle the successes and the importance of other team members, just to feel good.
 
 
EXTERNALLY SOURCED CONFIDENCE
Do you care more about being better than other players, other teams? Or are you focused on being better than you were yesterday?
 
A leader driven by external comparisons will be fragile and susceptible to anything perceived as a failure. For a person focused on comparisons to others, even small obstacles can be a big wound to the ego.
 
On the other hand, a team captain could take his self-worth from within. What it means is comparing yourself with a past version of yourself. Such an internal source of confidence helps remain cool, calm and confident when shit hits the fan.
 
In fact, not only leaders, but we all should build self-confidence from within, not from without.
Try it. It may not be easy at the start, but results will amaze you!
 
 
TRUST YOUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Your initial feelings about people are usually correct. If you feel that someone is an asshole or narcissist, then the odds are that you are right.

As social animals, we have well developed primal instincts that allow us to read other people well. The problem is, however, that we tend to suppress those emotions and instead trust people’s acting skills.

This happens primarily due to two reasons.

First, once we got to know somebody, we start to invest emotionally in our relation and suppress initial instincts.
Secondly, we fall under the charm and techniques of charismatic people. Humans are great social manipulators, especially charismatic types.

Of course, we have to consider the limitations of the form of contact with other people. Your interactions with other people in R6 Siege will be primarily online. You won’t be able to see a person’s nonverbal language (besides the tone of their voice).

Lastly, bear in mind cultural differences. Unless you choose to play with people who come from the same culture or country as yours, then some differences in acceptable behavior and communication style are to be expected.

 

Continue your journey to
R6 Siege Leadership

Develop the right mindset, and speak with your teammates as a true R6 Siege Leader. 

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