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Scouting Leadership (Serious Side of Scouting)

Getting the Boys to Lead

This is a discussion brought up in an archived Scouting Discussion Thread. All views expressed do not necessarily represent the troop's position and stand.

Rick Clements brought up a great question that we Scouters go through *at least* twice a year, if not that often; How to get your Scouts to lead. As a successful Scoutmaster and Advisor, here's some of my "trade secrets" in order to get them to do just that...to lead.

The first one, I've mentioned here several times....LEAVE THEM ALONE AND LET THEM FALL ON THEIR FACES, IF NEED BE. We as parents and adults are constantly trying to prevent this from happening, thinking that somehow it would look "unfavorably" on the Scoutmaster or the Troop. On the contrary, if you "carry" every kid that fails to do their job, or no matter what, make every activity a "superior, well-planned" event (at the expense of yourself or other adults), how can a kid learn failure or the results of NOT planning in detail?

The second one, is what Exploring has that the Boy Scouting program has only vaguely; a job description for EACH and EVERY JOB in the unit. Yeah, there are descriptions found in the Junior Leader Handbook, but they speak in generalities and NOT how Troop 000 will apply this job. We know that the Scribe is responsible for maintaining the Troop's records, but *which records*? Hardcopy or electronically? How does he interpret those records and to whom? Does he work with an adult during his tenure or independently? And the two most important questions-is he a member of a Patrol or is he considered a member of the "Staff" which entitles him to belong to a "staff patrol" (discouraged GREATLY!!!); and, whom does he report to; the Senior Patrol Leader, or the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. "Business practices" say that he reports to the ASPL, as well as the typical "wiring diagrams" which the BSA places in the book...but in many Troops, the Scribe works with and reports to the Senior Patrol Leader. All of those things need to be worked out and if necessary, adjusted for the boy involved (two brothers, one reporting to the other, may NOT be a good idea, if you know what I mean; likewise, two boys which have been KNOWN to produce explosive reactions when they are interacting with each other don't need to be working together all of the time)

The third "trade secret" is to TRAIN and COACH those leaders which have been elected, either informally, through your own adults and those older boys, and formally, by running the BSA's own junior leader orientation workshops. There's lots to be said for "getting everyone on one sheet of music". As I've mentioned here in the past, I don't allow a youth leader to lead unless they are willing and DO participate in that training, one way or the other. I "invalidate the election"-even IF the person "needs that position for a rank". If the attainment of the rank is THAT important to him, the training it takes to do that job is just as essential.

(and yes, I've taken a LOT of parents to task with this "policy" and I respond to them with the standard "you wouldn't want your kid to be taught by a teacher without a teaching certificate of some sort and some training in BEING a teacher, would you? Likewise, I don't want Scouts to teach other Scouts skills without being certified that they have learned those skills and can teach them to others!" )

The fourth one is to LEAVE THE PARENTS OUT OF IT. Parents, like us Scouters, want to see their kid succeed. It's engrained in us, from the time that we saw the kid speak or walk for the first time and as we compared them to other kids their size or age ("Andrew didn't talk until he was almost two", " Well...Jenny started talking when she was only nineteen months old...and we STILL can't shut her up..."). LET THE KID DO THE JOB...not Mom or Dad or even Cousin Joe. This will build self-confidence in the kid and FORCE him to rely on other kids and those outside Mom and Dad to help him along (which, of course, is one of the things that Scouting is supposed to do for a kid).

The fifth one, and the last one before I go to a job testing site, is that Scouts need to BUILD ON SMALL SUCCESSES. This is where the role of the Senior Patrol Leader and the Scoutmaster comes into play the most. When a Patrol Leader does a great job with setting up his campsite, he needs to know that AS SOON AS THEY ARE FINISHED. This builds the leader's self-esteem and gives him the confidence he or she needs to do harder, more demanding tasks. This also gives the others in the group some assurance that indeed, this kid or young adult "knows what he's doing" with us. When someone comes over to *your group*, singles out *your leader* and tells him or her *in front of all of you* that "Hey, you did a great job", it makes EVERYONE feel like they did a good job. (Scoutmasters and Advisors, make SURE that you tell the GROUP that THEY did a GREAT job, not just the leader. You can recognize the leader later on, but in the intermediate successes, tell them OFTEN and HONESTLY that they are doing well. No false praise here, because kids can see right through it. They know when they have done something well...they need you and your youth leader to tell them so when they've done it!

I can't talk right now to the point that Susan made about penalizing or not the leader for only attending part of a activity. It would take too much more time, and I only have a few minutes on-line before I have to put some food out for dinner and for me to travel to Park City (a hour's drive) in order to take the Postal exam (yeah, but I won't throw your mail in the dumpsters, gang! *hehehe*). So, I'll have to follow-up on that later!