Infiltrate, Divide and Conquer

I've been involved with a lot of well-meaning organizations over the years. One thing I've noticed (because I'm hyper-aware of these kinds of things) is that there are always people who seem to have all the time in the world and go to every single meeting like it's their job. Even though they don't seem to be genuinely passionate about the cause, they try to seize control (or at least the ear) of leadership in these organizations. They rarely put in the mundane, boots-on-the-ground kind of work that make these organizations worth anything. They tend to be a drain more than anything else, squashing good ideas, making meetings more about protocol than fun, and pitting good people against each other. Some of these people are probably just jerks, I know, but ... what if they're getting paid to do this? Something to think about.