For Youth Leaders

I never thought I could enjoy a view as much as I did that day! My Patrol and I had just hiked to the top of the tallest mountain in Oklahoma. It wasn’t super tall compared to Colorado standards, but coming from North Texas, it was the tallest I had ever seen! My Troop had prepared for this trip for a while, and I was really looking forward to it! Granted, we went at a cold time of the year, but I completely forgot about my freezing ears and wind-burnt face when we finally reached the summit!...

Look at your hands right now! Even if you haven’t earned Fingerprinting Merit Badge you know everyone on the face of the earth, even identical twins, have a unique fingerprint unlike anyone else’s. Now think about your Patrol. Every Patrol has its own unique “fingerprint”. Every Patrol has their own way of doing things, their own name, their own flag, and their own unique, individual Scouts. What you do, as Patrol leader, to make the most of these things defines what kind of ‘fingerprint’ your patrol has....

How can you capitalize on patrol teamwork? In“The Hobbit” the company of Dwarves decides that they need a ‘burglar’. The burglar would be the company’s eyes and ears: scouting out locations along the way. At the recommendation of the wizard Gandalf the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins was chosen to be the burglar. Just as the Dwarves depended on Bilbo to scout ahead of the company, a Patrol needs someone to go ahead of the Patrol, scout locations, research good places for hikes, camps, and different Patrol Activities....

I wish my Patrol had kept good records when I was a Patrol Leader. I didn’t think it was all that important at the time, but I know better now. I did buy a little notebook and tried to keep it up to date, but I was so busy that I forgot to write stuff down more often than I remembered. To find out what rank requirements Scouts had completed, I had to get their book (if they brought it with them)....

My first leadership position was Troop Quartermaster. Cleaning our Troop trailer and organizing all our gear was no easy task; things were a real mess and it took hours! It paid off, though; it was amazing how much easier we could find what we needed. Meal preparation time was practically cut in half! I was proud to be able to serve the Troop in such a significant way. When I left the position the Troop had no Quartermaster for a time....

A Patrol was off on a camping trip, and everything was going smoothly until the Patrol Leader twisted his ankle. Thankfully it wasn’t anything serious, but it made it difficult to walk. The Patrol Leader couldn’t go on the hike they had planned, or do much of anything else for the last day of the camp. That Patrol continued to operate as neatly and efficiently as ever instead of falling apart without their leader, like you might expect....

In the last series of articles ( What is a Patrol? ) we saw that a good patrol is an active, inspired, team of leaders. How can your patrol become a team of leaders? If a game like ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ or ‘World of Warcraft’ had only one character it would be a pretty dull game. Characters with different strengths and weaknesses to better equip them to face the challenges of the game are what makes games fun and interesting....

One of my favorite parts of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is the last half of the first movie after the Fellowship is formed. This is the part where the whole team is traveling together on the first stage of the quest. I love this part because it shows all the characters working together in small and large ways: Boromir teaches the hobbits sword fighting; the Fellowship decides how to navigate the mines of Moria; they learn more about each other and bond themselves together into a powerful force for good....

I was Patrol leader when my Patrol competed with dozens of others at our District Camporee. One competition was building a fire with flint and steel under a string tied horizontally about two feet off the ground, the object was to be the first to burn through the string. My Patrol had been practicing our skills in the weeks leading up to the Camporee, so we were ready. At the start signal, we each had a different task; one collected the tinder, another collected the kindling, one prepared the flint and steel, one collected the fuel, we all had something to do....

When the evil Sauron was terrorizing the fictional world of Middle-Earth only the Fellowship of the Ring could stop him. When a comic-book demigod threatened to invade the earth with an evil army, only the Avengers could save the planet! None of them would’ve been able to accomplish these things alone! The Fellowship of the Ring and the Avengers may be fiction, but the principle is real, and it will work for your Patrol....

In this Scout Circle Enoch Heise, Arlen Ward and myself discuss youth leadership in Scouting. Enoch is the author of the GreenBar life articles found at ScoutmasterCG.com. He’s a 19 year-old assistant Scoutmaster with a great perspective on helping youth leaders get going and keep going. Our central interest is developing a go-to resource for youth leaders to discuss and share their challenges and triumphs. Thanks to all of you who watched and participated in the live presentation!...

In the first part of this two-part series, we learned the Patrol Briefing is a cool tool for communicating with your Patrol as a group. A good patrol leader also takes the time to talk with Scouts individually. Talking to a group is a monologue, talking to an individual is a dialogue. Before we go any further, think about what would you like to hear from your Patrol Leader if you did a really good job....

You have a vision for your Patrol; you know what you want it to be. But how do you get started? Communication is 90% of being a good Patrol Leader! But where do you start? When I was a Patrol Leader, I found one of the best tools to have in my ‘Communication Toolbox’ was the Patrol Briefing. A “briefing” is a “brief” talk with your Patrol. A briefing communicates not only details and information, but encourages Patrol Spirit....

Once I learned the Scouting Program should be active I changed my strategy as a Patrol Leader. Instead of bottling up the energy of Scout chaos until it exploded, I decided I was going to beat the Scouts to it and lead the chaos. Here’s the key thing I learned: if I started the chaos I could focus it in a productive direction instead of letting a lack of focus waste valuable meeting time....

I know from experience that bored Scouts cause chaos. About a month into my term as Patrol Leader I still hadn’t figured out how to run a meeting with my Patrol. Some other Patrol Leaders in my Troop would give up, let chaos reign, and the whole meeting would go by without accomplishing anything productive. I wasn’t that type of Patrol Leader; I wanted to make progress with my Patrol. Since I didn’t know what else to do I defaulted to ‘lecturing’ like a school teacher....

I was a new Patrol Leader at the very first Scout meeting I ever had with my Patrol…. I was nervous and excited. How would the Patrol react to my leadership? How could I make this work? The Senior Patrol Leader gave orders for the Patrols to split up and work on rank advancement. About five minutes later, it was chaos! A couple of guys were having a spirited debate about some video game; another two were laughing uncontrollably over some joke they made up; one was busy rearranging stuff that belonged to the church where we were meeting; and the last Scout was struggling to sit still and listen to what I had to say about first aid....

On one of the first camping trips I went to, my Troop had the unpleasant duty of cleaning the latrine. No one wanted to do it! I certainly didn’t want to, but on an impulse I volunteered to help. Have you ever seen a movie where one guy volunteers for a hard job and everybody else pitches in because they felt bad about shirking their duty? I was hoping volunteering to clean the latrine would be like the movies and a swarm of volunteers would help me....

When I was elected as a Patrol Leader, I wanted to be the best possible leader for my Patrol! I decided that I was going to try to learn how to be a good communicator, planner, and organizer. Problem is I didn’t have any leadership skills. I was the kind of guy that preferred to stand back and let someone else take charge. I was nervous if I had to speak with authority....

A few years ago I was the “new guy”; all I knew about Boy Scouts was what I had seen in movies and had never held any kind of leadership position in my life. Fast-forward to now: I’ve been a Patrol Leader and a Senior Patrol Leader. As Senior Patrol Leader I led my Troop planning and running all the activities for a Spring Camporee that hundreds of Scouts attended. I’ve been through a lot and had many awesome adventures I will never forget....

Action-Packed Meetings! In part 1, I said your Patrol should have a life of its own! In Part 2, I explained how you were the only one that can make this happen. One of the most important things you can do is have your own Patrol Meetings! When I was a Patrol Leader, I was able to run a handful of these with my Patrol. It was hard work to put these together!...