Only the most privileged of community practitioners will make it to retirement without experiencing the stress of chasing growth targets at least once in their career. The majority of us have had a close relationship with engagement statistics at some point, and what a fickle friend they can be. During the early days of a community’s establishment, steady growth is tantamount to survival. Community builders all seek the holy grail of critical mass – that magical turning point where a community becomes self-sustaining.
When I moderated other communities, especially on Reddit, the issue of eadership between the top moderator and the members came up, as well as the dynamic between permissiveness and the calibration of punishments to avoid small-power syndrome at the user and staff levels. This included giving staff the necessary autonomy to make their own decisions regarding punishments and the direction the community should take, and seeing what works and what doesn’t.
Another point is knowing what audience you want trolls or a solid culture? All of this matters because, in the end, as my administrator says, your community is what it is due to the responsibility, or lack thereof, of its administrators.