Scout Leader Skills

To stay afloat organizations , like ships on the ocean, are designed to be reasonably impenetrable and inflexible. Safety and stability is important to ships and organizations but that same safety and stability create drag when it comes to evolution and change. This drag is commensurate with the size and scope of the organization. The bigger the ship the longer it takes to turn. The ocean of culture in is wider, deeper, more fluid and changeable than the organizational ships that travel over them....

These are divisive times. We are in the midst of a hotly contested presidential election and the Boy Scouts of America is working through major controversies over past practices in reporting child abuse and challenges to excluding gay leaders (and now apparently) Scouts. These are touchy issues to write about here but I have been asked if I would offer my thoughts because the airways are full of stories and folks are feeling unsettled....

(Historic fiction inspired by comments on this post – have you ever had a call like this?) After a weekend camping trip a twelve year-old Scout throws his pack into the trunk and gets in the car. His parent asks, “So, what did you do this weekend? Did you get a lot of work done? Was it fun?” He rubs his eyes, “It was great, we cooked a lot and then we ate, and we played some games and walked around,” he yawns, “Mostly we cooked stuff and cleaned up and kind of sat around the fire....

Priceless! Dear Andy, I returned from Scout camp after spending six days with my son and his troop a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say is I’m shocked. I was there with the Scoutmaster, and he never lifted a finger to help the boys. All he did was sit in his lawn chair and watch them fail, time after time. I’m still so angry I’m ready to pull my son out of Scouts....

Most Scout parents are supportive, encouraging and make a positive contribution to their son’s experience in Scouting. If you volunteer long enough you will eventually run into Scout parent problems. Some are minor irritations, some are very upsetting. Questions and challenges from parents usually come from honest misunderstandings. When parents raise concerns it can feel like a personal attack. Remember they aren’t trying to be mean, they are acting in the best interest of their child the best way they can....

Think for a moment how Scouts grow, about the way a Scout-aged-boy’s mind develops – He is becoming increasingly able to think abstractly. He may be sharply self-conscious thinking that he is constantly being watched and judged by others; believing no one can relate to his personal experiences. He is beginning to think systematically about morality, friendship, faith, democracy, fairness, and honesty. He is beginning to understand how the thoughts or actions of one person can influence others....

Burak Kanber is an engineer with a blog. He recently posted an article titled Effective Teaching is a Long Con; If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. – Carl Sagan The above Carl Sagan quote is why most smart people are bad teachers. Smart, impassioned people know the whole story behind what they’re teaching. Smart people like to think about the whole story; they run it through their heads over and over in the shower, while they’re cooking, and on the subway....

Wood Badge is Scouting’s premier adult leader training. It was a mystery to me before I took the course, but it turned out to be simple to understand and very useful to my work in Scouting. Wood Badge is much like any modern corporate leadership course but it does not cost $3000, it is outdoors, and it is fun. The first Wood Badge course was presented in 1919 to train Scoutmasters but now any Scouter can particpate....

Jargon is an Old French word meaning “the chatter of birds”. At it’s best Scouting jargon encapsulates a complex idea or definition for easy reference. At it’s worst jargon can become unintelligible, pretentious, convoluted vocabulary of the initiated. Scouting has a lot of acronyms and initialization: ‘ We talked about EDGE at the PLC and encouraged them to use MaSeR during their SSC and SMART exercises.’ Scouting jargon is not, in itself, a bad thing....

The senior patrol leader is in charge of troop meetings from beginning to end. He chairs meetings of the patrol leaders’ council as they plan troop activities and programs… To help the senior patrol leader achieve that leadership goal, you as Scoutmaster should work with him before and after troop meetings to mentor him, encourage him, and provide him with the tools to succeed. The relationship between a senior patrol leader and his Scoutmaster is often one of friendship and mutual admiration....

Enoch is an active 17-year-old Scout and blogger at Scouting Rediscovered I asked Enoch to write about his experiences with adult volunteers in Scouting: When I first joined my Troop, I really didn’t know what to expect; I was never a Cub or Webelos, and my family had not really been involved in Scouting. All I knew about Scouting came from one short camping trip with a family friend and Scouter who gave me a used Scout handbook....

Willy Volk succinctly describes how he applies his experience in the Peace Corps to his work. I have known several Scouts (all Eagles) who went on to serve in the Peace Corps and gained a great deal from it. Volk outlines five excellent lessons to apply to any leadership challenge – ones I think are particularly accessible to youth leaders: I joined the Peace Corps to try something different. I certainly got that....

You have been asked to take on one of the greatest, most challenging roles in Scouting; you are a new Scoutmaster. What next? Get trained! Here’s the steps; Be prepared for training by being teachable. A new Scoutmaster may have a strong, determined personality. While this is desirable in some respects it can also make us less than receptive to training. You may have a number of preconceived ideas of the work of Scouting that may or may not help your Scouts achieve the aims of Scouting....

‘Aim’ is a particularly well chosen word to describe our focus as adult volunteers in Scouting. Scouting has three specific objectives, commonly referred to as the “Aims of Scouting.” They are character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness. One definition of ‘aim’ is “A purpose or intention toward which one’s efforts are directed”. As a shooting sports director for our camp years ago I learned a great deal about aiming. It’s not as simple as leveling a bow or rifle at the target and hoping for the best....

As an adult volunteer in Scouting how would you react if you were made aware of suspected abuse? As the Penn State investigations proceed they reveal more about how the administration of the school handled reports of abuse for which the perpetrator now stands convicted. Administrators chose not go to the authorities with reports of abuse – they decided to handle the situation internally. Recently revealed email conversations indicate their rationalizations....

There’s a danger in going too far with the whole ‘kids these days’ thing. Each successive generation is pretty sure the next one is headed to hell in a hand basket. Your great-great grandparents were convinced that your great grandparents were running full tilt off the cliff of immorality and dissipation – so let’s have some perspective. There are trends and practices in parenting that repeat themselves over and over again and ‘spoiling’ children is one of them....

How do we attract and maintain volunteers? What are the benefits of volunteering? Who volunteers and why, what they need what they want from volunteering? Here’s ten facts about volunteering and volunteers that should help you grow your number of volunteers: **Volunteers give without expecting anything in return yet they are rewarded in personal growth and development. What you give you get; goodwill is developed by giving away goodwill. –**Talk about what makes the work meaningful, how you feel about being a volunteer and how it has enriched your life....

No matter what community volunteer effort or organization, whether local, national or worldwide in scope, there’s a fairly immutable rule of the way people will perceive your efforts: 25% of people will actively support the effort by volunteering, contributing financially and talking positively with their friends, coworkers and family about the work. 6o% of people will be neutral. They will neither support or detract from the effort. They will have a reasonably balanced opinion about the work....

Can a volunteer be too involved in their work? Yes. Need is constant and concerned human beings want to fill the need. They can’t. Most volunteers will not encounter a situation that demands truly heroic action or sacrifice yet they impute such importance to their work they can overextend themselves. Volunteers often get involved past their capacity of time, experience and skill. Subtle influences of ego are involved. We may be asked to take on a prestigious position, we may see the offer of awards or recognition, we may seek to have influence or power....

There is discipline and accountability in Scouting but Scoutmasters are not disciplinarians. We are volunteers in the game of Scouting and our job is to mentor and train youth to lead themselves. When there is a question of accountability – a Scout who is not doing what he is expected to do – Scouters can speak to them and encourage them to rise to the occasion. If they don’t it is not up to the Scouter nor the troop to discipline or punish the Scout....