This is good advice; however, even the experienced leader is not always a good fit.

Case in point.

I joined a series of workshops for the writer at a newly formed writer organization. I researched the leader. I found she was a published writer and had several screen credits to her name.

The positive stopped there. The attitude she led with was that traditional publishing with one of the top publishers was the only acceptable forms of publishing. She also told the group that she was the ONLY person who knew the writing industry, had the connections, knew good writing, and could help you on your way because she had helped numerous writers succeed.

After teaching English/language arts for 34 years, I found myself talking to her on the side and pointing out things that just weren't true about good writing. She acted appalled that I knew as much about writing as I did. (NOTE: At that time, I had published several short stories and poems.)

As a professional writer, she did more harm to budding writers than she did good. I walked away, but not without finding myself questioning my own ability as a writer.