Mistakes are always made.
Although our aspirations and expectations are high we rarely bring a project to completion without a misstep or difficulty. With the responsibility for planning and presenting Scouting is in the hands of the youth leadership the way we react to mistakes is important.
If, in the midst of a football game, the ball is fumbled everyone on the team tries to recover the ball.
Nobody stands by and tries to find fault with the player who fumbled, or waits for him to pick the ball up – everybody jumps. Since everyone who has ever carried the ball knows that they could fumble it just as easily they don’t condemn the man that fumbled, they jump.
A fumble is a team challenge, not a crime to prosecute and punish.
Scouts will react to their own mistakes one of three ways –
They will own up to the problem and deal with it directly.
They will hide until someone else discovers the mistake.
They will try to deny responsibility by making excuses.
Scout aged boys are very sensitive to failure and how it affects their standing in the eyes of their peers. More than one NFL player has shed tears of frustration over a bad play or a fumble. His teammates usually pat him on the back and encourage him to get back in the game.
If the response to a fumble was ostracism and a sound beating few players would look forward to carrying the ball.
If the reaction to the predictable shortcomings and difficulties of youth leadership is to find fault and punish few of them will want to be put in a position of responsibility.
Scouts need to be accountable but without dramatics, punishment or bad feelings.