Welcome to the fourth edition of Lead The Way, where we explore real leadership moments under pressure. This time, we are focusing on a different challenge: internal power shifts and leadership transitions, what we call the “Leadership Overthrow.”
Designed by MasterDS
Often, leadership comes with unexpected occurrences, and almost certainly no event is as unexpected as a leadership coup. A leadership coup can be the result of inactivity, controversy, or simply disagreement within an army. Regardless of its cause, ousting a leader in an army can have massive ramifications on the structure of an army. More than changing who is in charge, it creates a rupture in trust, habit, and momentum.
Scenario: The Leadership Coup
Imagine this: You are the sitting leader of a well-established army. Despite your recent efforts, tensions are brewing beneath the surface. HCOM chats grow quieter, event performance drops, and whispers of discontent circulate privately. Then it happens, a sudden vote, or worse, a quiet collaboration behind your back. You are informed that the leadership has been taken from you. Whether fair or not, the power shift is complete.
What comes next defines the future of the army. In the wake of an overthrow, armies must navigate a rocky path. There may be resistance from loyalists, confusion among troops, or even outright collapse if the situation is not handled carefully. New leadership must act decisively. The leadership must demonstrate to its members that it is capable not just of seizing power, but of claiming it.
Throughout CPA history, several armies have undergone these kinds of internal reorganizations. Some armies collapsed under the strain. Other armies, on the other hand, have reemerged, reinvigorated by the experience, and have gone on to collectively brand their experience as a rebirth. The key difference? The readiness of leadership.
A successful overthrow is not just about deposing someone. At its best, a political overhaul is about understanding your new landscape, what to do for stable communication, what vision to have, and creating a consistent presence that brings the team together again.
Club Penguin Armies reached out to multiple members of the community for their thoughts on how each would deal with the fallout of a leadership takeover, either as the one dethroned, the new leader, or a bystander in the chaos.
If you were suddenly overthrown as a leader, what would your next steps be?
GeoIonut, Help Force: Well i guess ill stay to reflect what happend and why. After ill try to regroup myself and rebuild my confidence. Ill learn from the downfall, reconnect with myself and find a new way to lead or contribute
Cookie, Water Vikings: Well, I would find good staff to help me. I would be a friendly leader like I am a SiT. I would host event of course and try to max well. And of course help troops/staff if they need it! 😋
Ango, Water Vikings: If I ever lead an army and is overthrown, I’ll try to see what went wrong in terms of my decision for something like that to happen. If it was an unruly coup or smth (I dunno, maybe someone trying to get more power), I would work against them.
Noa, Army of Club Penguin: First find out why and what exactly happened. After that I’d start talking to those who have overthrown me and see how we can move on from here. As there’s a low chance of them reconsidering their decision, I’d move on to another army and try to stay on good terms w those who have overthrown me (does depend on how our communication ended).
What qualities make someone a strong enough leader to survive internal conflict?
GeoIonut, Help Force: Emotional intelligence, adaptability, clear communication, trust, and resilience these help a leader navigate and survive internal conflict.
Cookie, Water Vikings: First kindness of course. Then probably knowing how to lead well, because if you don’t know how to lead, you’ll probably be a bad leader, won’t you? 😺
Ango, Water Vikings: I think that depends on the scale of the conflict. But some global qualities that you need to have is confidence in your abilities, a good enough influence and discussing skills and especially being likeable to your army. If you don’t have your own army to support you, you’ve lost.
Noa, Army of Club Penguin: People w determination (to keep going and to achieve their goals), empathy (to solve and understand conflicts) and those with a large vocabulary to be able to word things the way they want and to calm things down when conflicts start to rise up.
Do overthrows cause more damage than good in the long term, or are they sometimes necessary for progress?
GeoIonut, Help Force: Overthrows can cause short-term damage, but they’re sometimes necessary for long-term progress especially when a system is corrupt or stagnant. The outcome depends on what replaces the old leadership.
Cookie, Water Vikings: It depends. Sometimes they are necessary sometimes. But sometimes I don’t think they are necessary. As I said, it depends on the situation!
Ango, Water Vikings: That depends on what leaders you would overthrow, I think! I have great leaders myself, but if any other armies have a bad ruler that does bad decisions all the time and stuff, you should probably look for a way to get him out of the way for your army’s prosperity.
Noa, Army of Club Penguin: Depends on the kind of leader that was overthrown and the situation, sometimes people come together to cause unnecessary drama which leads to the end of an army. Especially if the leader they have overthrown spent most of their time on improving the army. In other situations the leader IS the problem and that may result in progress being slowed down and the army slowly dying. In that case, I’d say talk to the leader and to overthrow them would be a last resort.
How can a new leader earn the trust of the army after taking over during turbulent times?
GeoIonut, Help Force: A new leader can earn trust by showing consistency, listening to concerns, leading by example, being transparent in decisions, and prioritizing the well-being and unity of the army.
Cookie, Water Vikings: To be honest, my opinion on how a leader should earn the trust is be a good leader, be kind to people. Of course help them if needed! And don’t ever be rude to them, even if they annoy you, try to stay calm and fix the problem that’s happening at the moment! 🙂
Ango, Water Vikings: I think that the new leader really should pay attention to the issues the previous ruler left and try their best to fix them, as it will be seen as progress and dedication by the entire army. As I said in question 2, you gotta be likeable by your army to prosper, so listen to the people! Don’t be like Marie Antoinette and feed the people something else than cake when they starve and come to cry, beg and shout for more. Be a prosperous ruler that listens, pays attention and work for the best of one’s army.
Noa, Army of Club Penguin: No promises made through words, but them showing it through actions. People won’t trust the classic ‘I will make … great again’, but they will trust their new leader faster when the results start to show and when they actually put in the effort. Additionally being able to check up on their troops is a way to try to gain trust as well.
Leadership in Club Penguin Armies is not always lost on the battlefield. It can unravel from within through coups, distrust, or internal conflict. When faced with an overthrow, a true leader must act with clarity, confidence, and decisiveness, balancing diplomacy with strength. The ability to maintain unity, communicate transparently, and respond quickly often determines whether an army endures or fractures. If your status as a commander was threatened, what would you do?
Zenishira
Associate Editor
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