Taking The Seat

The Chief who facilitiates for this island community is chosen through an informal process which can happen at any community gathering. Interested parties quietly gauge how much support they have in the community. The one with the most confidence of that eventually sits in The Seat at the end of the big table in the Festive House, and the community tacitly lets them feel their approval or disapproval. A Chief can walk away from the job at any time, with no bad feeling. It's a big job. Everyone understands.

The Seat at the table

The Chief who facilitates for this island community is chosen through an informal process which can happen at any community gathering. In the Festive House is a long table with seats around it used for the waulkings, and for meetings, jumble sales, and so on. At one end is The Seat which is traditionally used by the person who takes responsibility for ensuring that the needs of the community are facilitated. (The Seat can be any actual chair - whatever the Chief prefers.)

Stepping aside

Some have occupied The Seat until they died, but there are no rules that they must: the Chief is free to step aside whenever they choose. They do this simply by leaving The Seat in a way that makes it clear they no longer want the job. No-one judges them for this decision: being the Chief is a big responsibility, and everyone wants a Chief who feels willing and able to respond to the community's needs.
Of course, there are some who want to stay in The Seat when the community generally agrees there should be a change of Chief. This is far more rare: it's difficult to facilitate for a community of people who are generally either tacitly or openly disapproving of the job you're doing, and generally accepted that people who sense this disapproval will leave The Seat of their own volition.
Where there has been some resistance, it's been handled discretely by the elders in a way that allows for success to be celebrated and honoured, the challenges of life to be acknowledged in general, and change to be embraced as part of growth.

Taking The Seat

If The Seat is empty, a new leader can take it at the next gathering, whatever that may be: cloth waulking, committee meeting, or knitting circle. The actual process of finding that person is both simple and complex. Ostensibly, a member of the community simply walks over to the table and takes The Seat. Then whatever gathering it is, continues.

Community support

Prior to that gathering, there is much speculation about who might take The Seat. And of course, those who are considering taking it themselves must ascertain how much support they might have from the community if they were to lead. It is unwise to be in the position of leading a community who are reluctant to place their trust in you. It's also considered rude to directly ask people if they'd support you. Nobody wants to have to lie.

The frontrunners

There are, of course, different views amongst the community about what makes a good leader, but it becomes obvious fairly quickly whether or not one might have enough approval within the community to be a serious contender.
Through a process of gentle investigation and hedging around the subject, the group of hopefuls is mostly whittled down to just a few frontrunners by the day of the next community gathering.
Although not an inherited position, the role of leader can and has fallen to several connected community members, where the community considered those connections to have given valuable experience.

The right moment

Whatever the purpose of the gathering happens to be, it takes longer to get going than usual if there is to be a new leader. Everyone mills about and chats more, allowing time for that leader to emerge. The frontrunners must gauge support within the room, whilst eyeing others who might make a possible approach to the table. Eventually, it will seem that one person is more likely than anyone to be generally accepted if they sit.

Seat taken

When a person has summoned the courage to take The Seat, if the atmosphere seems generally approving, someone - often the senior elder - will ask the new leader's advice about something innocuous. This tacitly evidences the community's approval, especially if the answer is a generous one, and the event can continue without direct comment on the fact that there is a new leader. They are simply accepted and mostly supported.

Is it me next?

There are several games that have built up around this method of finding a new leader. When the seat is first empty, there's a tradition of everyone asking their friends and family, in a light-hearted way, "Is it me next?" This allows for anyone who is serious to quietly make enquiries without drawing focus to themselves. If they get very little support, or a lot of laughter, there is no sense of dishonour in them having asked.

Future leaders

It is accepted that the leader of the community must have come-of-age. To lighten the tension of waiting for someone to step up, children take turns claiming The Seat. They make pledges to the community as 'leader', which are often outrageous. When someone moves to genuinely take The Seat, there is likely to be a child in it already, and they must 'negotiate' with that child for The Seat. This usually involves bribery with sugary treats.

The process of leading

Once someone has taken the seat, there is an informal tradition for acceptance of that person. Typically, an elder at the table casually mentions something small which needs addressing for the benefit of the community in general.
They might comment, to everyone in general, "That bench on the cliff is still broken, isn't it?"
Others will agree, or chime in about why the bench is useful or important to them, or to the community.
The new Chief is expected to respond in a way that demonstrates how they will ensure that the needs of the community are met. They might intend to be very hands-on, responding, "I was thinking I could go up there later today and fix it."
They might invite collaboration, perhaps asking if anyone has a good piece of wood they could use, or they might know of someone who would be thrilled to be entrusted by the Chief with this important job.
Their nearest rival for The Seat might express strong opinions about this matter, and the conversation about the bench becomes a way to evidence how the former rivals will interact moving forwards.
This ostensibly innocuous conversation allows for the establishing of the relationship this Chief intends to have with the community, and with individuals who choose to be more proactive or tend to be more vocal.
Ultimately, the goal is to settle the matter of Chief as efficiently and gently as possible, so everyone can get on with whatever event they are gathered for, which usually involves food that needs eating and songs that need singing.

Jump to...