Leadership Principles

CompelForce or oblige someone to do something. DelegateTo give or commit (duties, powers, etc) to another as agent or representative. Empowered Give someone the authority or power to do something. The authority of youth leadership is not based in compelling young people to do something. The authority in youth leadership is not delegated (One abiding myth of Scouting is that the adults are the source of all authority and delegate responsibility to youth leadership....

Podcast Episode (00:28:49): Download MP3 Listen to Scoutmaster Podcast 227 | Sponsored By ScoutmasterCG.com Backers Is there a difference between leadership in the outdoors and in other settings? The answer to this question and answers to email questions in this podcast along with your messages in the mailbag. Get The SCOUTMASTERCG APP Podcast Archive Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Is there really a difference between outdoor leadership and leadership in other situations? To my mind just about everything we do in Scouting hinges on how you answer that question. We are familiar with business or management-style leadership in our professional and business lives. Outdoor (or Scouting) leadership is different and understanding this difference is key to being an effective Scouter. Why do corporations invest time and resources in things like ropes courses and leadership retreats?...

Podcast Episode (00:28:20): Download MP3 Scoutmaster Podcast 205 | Sponsored By ScoutmasterCG.com Backers Announcing the new Scoutmastercg.com site, new features roll out this week! What standards do we apply for evaluating leadership? Should we create a set of standards that define when a Scout has achieved the fulfillment of their ‘leadership’ requirements? How else can we encourage our Scouts to be responsible and guarantee we are being fair when evaluating their work?...

If I could change one thing about Scouting I’d do away with the term ‘adult leader’. Leaders are directive, they tell people what to do and how to do it. Advisors and mentors , on the other hand, are motivational – they help people develop skills and find the inspiration in their work. The greatest responsibility of an adult working with a Scout Troop or Venture Crew is engaging youth members in leading themselves using the patrol system....

Frustration in organizations begins with someone saying “If I only had the authority to I’d … (fill in the blank)”. When someone says this one of two things are happening ; they are either expressing a strong propensity for leadership, innovation and initiative, or just cloaking a complaint in language that doesn’t make them responsible for change. We understand authority as the power to make things happen. That’s the organizational chart way of looking at things; top down, low-risk, chain of command....

The Bridge Builder An old man, going a lone highway, Came, at the evening, cold and gray, To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide, Through which was flowing a sullen tide. The old man crossed in the twilight dim; The sullen stream had no fear for him; But he turned, when safe on the other side, And built a bridge to span the tide. “Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim, near,...

How do we inspire initiative in Scout Youth Leaders? The idea of connecting initiative to authority starts with this post by Dan Rockwell, Ineffective leaders seize and hoard authority; successful leaders give it. Those who cling to authority lose it. Those who give authority gain authority. Authority is permission to act without permission. Control freaks never inspire initiative. The more they control the less initiative – acting without permission – others take....

As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate. …When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!’ – Lao Tzu How do we lead? Lao Tzu describes three types of leaders with three leadership motives. We can understand the motivations by asking: why do we lead?...

These leadership questions were part of our annual leadership challenge event this past weekend. Scouts were asked to evaluate their leadership skills at the beginning and the end of the weekend by rating themselves on how well the understood and applied these concepts. These evaluations were done for the Scouts themselves, we did not collect them or read them; they did have a chance to discuss these leadership questions and where they thought they improved over the weekend....

Frank Maynard has written brilliantly about the idea of ‘helicoptering’ Scouters: Are you a helicopter Scouter? Do you think it’s so important to have a well-run productive troop that you’ll get in the middle of the boys’ business to do it? Do you think you have to “keep the boys on task” in order to get everything accomplished at the troop meetings? To take over planning at PLC meetings to “make sure it gets done right”?...

We’ve made leadership about changing the world, but there is no ‘world’ there’s six billion people’s understanding of it. If you change one person’s understanding of it, their understanding of what they are capable of, of how much people care about them of how powerful an agent for change they can be you have changed the world. It’s a simple idea, but I don’t think it’s a small idea.”...

Authoritative leadership should not be confused with authoritarian leadership; in this context they are polar opposites. Authoritative leaders have high expectations, respond actively, listen more than they talk, and readily reason with those they lead. In Scouting our expectations are clear and well-defined but it’s a mistake to apply that clarity and definition in an authoritarian or obedience-oriented manner. While we encourage obedience we don’t want Scouts to be unquestioning drones, we want Scouts asking questions so we can help them find answers....

Here’s fifteen thoughts for Scout leaders that I hope you find helpful. 1. Trust the Program. 100 years of proven results – Follow it! Seek to understand and embrace changes. 2. Conduct Activities that are Age Appropriate. Respond to the specific needs of each developmental stage: don’t push Scouts into activities for older, or hold them back in activities for younger Scouts 3. Be prepared to work with different family standards and expectations....

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....

Essayist and Critic William Deresiewicz delivered a lecture to the plebe class at the United States Military Academy at West Point in October 2009 concerning Solitude and Leadership. What follows is my condensed version of his key ideas: … Solitude is one of the most important necessities of true leadership. … (Generally when we) talk about training leaders (we mean) educating people who make a big name for themselves in the world, people with impressive titles,… People who make it to the top....

Earnest Shackleton set out to cross the Antarctic on foot in 1914. When his ship Endurance became trapped and subsequently destroyed Shackleton and his crew spent the next two years rescuing themselves. Shackleton’s leadership has been closely studied in recent years as an example of adaptation to tremendously difficult circumstances. We’re unlikely to experience anything near the physical privation, harshness and length of Shackleton’s misfortunes as Scout leaders. What we will share is the mental and spiritual challenge to adapt, to seize opportunities and to make good....

EDITORS NOTE – Here’s a something that should be in our minds every time we interact with our Scouts. I am often focused on problems and missing opportunities to support them positively. We all have a memory of a time when we were criticized. Do you remember a time when you were praised? I bet the negative comments stick in your mind. A blog post by Bob Sutton, a management professor at Stanford University, points out that negative interactions are far more powerful than positive ones....

The three rules of Scouting leadership are simple: delegate delegate delegate I’m a Scoutmaster so I concentrate on the work I am supposed to be doing. I don’t do these jobs: Outdoor Coordinator – he takes care of ALL camping trip logistics, phone calls, online reservations to support the annual plan that the Scouts prepared. Committee Chairman – I go to committee meetings each month for about 10 minutes. Then I leave and return to the Scout meeting....

Cartoonist Charles Schultz brilliantly depicted adult speech in his animated ‘Peanuts’ cartoons as unintelligible honking. As a child I certainly understood what Schultz was aiming at. As an adult I recall the different ways that adults talked to me when I was young and how I heard them: Yelling, Hollering, Shouting Sometimes (and only sometimes) it’s an adult’s job to raise their voice and get attention. Use this tone too often and you are likely to be avoided or ignored....