This brings us straight to the question, "Does A. A. have a real
leadership? Most emphatically the answer is "Yes, notwithstanding the
apparent lack of it." Let's turn again to the deposed founder and his
friends. What becomes of them? As their grief and anxiety wear away,
a subtle change begins. Ultimately, they divide into two classes
known in A.A. slang as "elder statesmen" and "bleeding deacons." The
elder statesman is the one who sees the wisdom of the groups
decision, who holds no resentment over his reduced status, whose
judgment, fortified by considerable experience, is sound, and who is
willing to sit quietly on the sidelines patiently awaiting
developments. The bleeding deacon is one who is just as surely
convinced that the group cannot get along without him, who constantly
connives for reelection to office, and who continues to be consumed
with self-pity. A few hemorrhage so badly that - drained of all A.A.
spirit and principal - they get drunk. At times the A.A. landscape
seems to be littered with bleeding forms. Nearly every old timer in
our Society has gone through this process in some degree. Happily,
most of them survive and live to become elder statesmen. They become
the real and permanent leadership in A.A. Theirs is the quiet
opinion, the sure knowledge and humble example that resolve a crisis.
When sorely perplexed, the group inevitably turns to them for advice.
They become the voice of the group conscience; in fact, these are the
true voice of Alcoholics Anonymous. They do not drive by mandate;
they lead by example. This is the experience which has led us to the
conclusion that our group conscience, well-advised by its elders,
will be in the long run wiser than any single leader. Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions pgs 134 & 135