From my experience as having been an Elder is that there basically two kinds of Elders. While initially all young Servants are happy to receive their appointment as a kind of recommendation of their hard work and spiritual progress, a split develops (due to the person's base personality) where you begin to love the attention of the congregation and the fact your voice has authority, or you become an Elder just happy to work for the Brothers.
The first group very quickly learn how to pass of the more mundane assignments to the second group. The glory seekers are normally happy to do public talks or the Watchtower study but are often absent on work based committees and midweek field service groups.
As a result the glory hunters never step down from the body of Elders. Why? Because life is good for them.
But the story is quite different for Elders who are people focused. Very quickly it dawns on them that work is not equally distributed on the Body, in seeing how often the glory hunters beg off assignments. But they kindly reason, that it has to be done and so they pick up the load.
In time, number of things get on top of the humble Elder. Maybe their kids aren't progressing well. Maybe after juggling work, home life and congregational stuff, their ministry begins to suffer. Either way they start to fall under the eye of the CO and hints begin to be given, to pick up the pace. Or maybe this class of Elders begin to see how Jehovah's justice is not equally applied. Regardless, these are the men the ultimately leave their assignments. Not happily but out of disappointment. Disappointment in themselves and the Organization that they have worked very hard for and received very little real thanks for the sacrifices made.
And this is why older congregations often become quite dysfunctional or cold. Because all the Elders that actually cared, have stepped down or left.
Its just my perspective, but it is quite easy to get jaded as an elder ... and it burns you out in the end.
