Put team chemistry before everything else. Don't pick skill over personality. Some people can be very good at the game, but if they don't get along with people, don't keep them around. Its all about working as a team, not individual skill. At the end of the day, most of us are here to have fun.
Think of your gang as its own little community, play other games together for example. Its all about chemistry.
Fight a lot. Learn the basics of the Asylum play style as its very different to other servers. Arrange fights with smaller gangs at first, learn your way around the cartels, then you can slowly start making your way up the ladder.
Private servers is a nice place to learn about each other. Get you and your team comfortable with each other. Learn each others weaknesses and strengths so you can apply them to actual fights. I always adjust the way I play depending on who's got my back.
Watch your recruitment. I've made this mistake in the past. Never take on to many guys, take it step by step. Bring in a couple new players, get to know them. Once you feel like you're going in the right direction, you can bring in more. Nothing destroys a gang faster than mass recruitment. Take it slowly.
REDRUM used to use a well structured council system before we moved to Asylum. It consisted of 5 people who voted on decisions. Each Council member had its own role within the gang. This kept the gang going for 11 Months without a hiccup. When we moved over to Asylum, 4 of the 5 Council members quit Arma, thus leading to the disbandment of RED.
Having a similar system may work for you, it may not. Some gangs are better off with a individual leader, some better off being run by a group. Find out what works best for you and apply it.
Have Fun!. This is the most important. Being a part of a gang is all about having fun. If you see you are not enjoying cartels, don't do them. Just because another gang is calling you out in sidechat, doesn't mean you have to retaliate. Do activities that you and everyone in your gang will enjoy.
Fighting in-game against good players is a good start. Practicing on a training server doesn't hurt.. lets you get a feel for combat without worrying about your bank account.
