Can I quit mid-year?

[EagleInKY]

Try to hang on, it sounds like you are trying to take things in the right direction. Semper gave you a great outline of a 10 step program to turn things around. He's given you some great advice, I encourage you to follow it. It does start with building some support, so his step #2, find a friend, is dead-on.

 

Some comments about your post:

 

"But, how am I supposed to work with a den leader that send me this message when I give him available training dates"

"I will not be attending the Leader Training in December. It is my understanding that one leader from each Den needs to be certified for Recharter and my assistant has already attended training. She and I have worked together very well with our Den and are splitting up the time requirements."

So I have a leader who absolutely refuses to get training.

 

While I agree that everyone should get trained, at least you've got one trained person in the den. Maybe you should try to leverage that person more, since they seem to be willing to make the effort to do it right. I wouldn't lose too much sleep over this.

 

I had several boys who did not sell popcorn for the pack, so I am charging them for Boy's Life, charter, and dues. It is only fair, because these items are paid for by popcorn sales. Instead I get this:

"I see that one of the items we will discuss at the next Leader's Meeting is about the scouts that did not sell any popcorn. I don't think we should punish anybody for choosing not to sell in our fundraiser by charging them dues or other fees. We all work as a Pack and have different strengths to contribute." I don't see this as penalizing them, if their parents would have put forth a little effort and sold some popcorn or even bought some, this wouldn't be necessary.

 

This has been discussed several times before. I think it is perfectly valid for the Pack Committee to make a decision like this. Unfortunately, I don't think it's your decision to make alone. In reality, this should be communicated to the families before the popcorn sales, so they can make a decision. I personally prefer the approach of allocating a portion of their sales toward their annual fees. If they sell enough, they get off free. This encourages everyone to sell, and rewards those who generate the most income for the pack.

 

Lastly, how am I supposed to work with a den leader whos wife gets upset, and calls and e-mails me repeatedly, because I will only hand out awards and prizes at pack meetings.

I am trying to instill the things I have observed at a Pack my son was a part of a few years ago that I felt really knew what they were doing.

 

I had the same problem when I took over a similarly struggling pack. No one would come to the pack meetings because they were boring. Den Leaders would pick up unclaimed awards and take them back to the den. I put a stop to it and told them that the only place they could receive their advancement was at the pack meeting. Attendance shot up (partly because of this, and mostly because they were more fun).

 

 

I wish you luck. I hope things turn around. Keep us informed of the progress.

[dlw73078]

Thank you everyone for your words of wisdom. I will not quit this year. I am hoping to turn things in my short time around, for the better.

I have a few ideas in mind after reading everyones posts, and the confidence that my biggest problem causers will be gone in a few months when their kids cross-over.

I firmly believe in 100% training, but if I only get half way I am still good.

Hopefully after our next leaders meeting (since we have no committee - that will soon change) I will come out a much more chipper, prouder, and enthusiastic Cub Master.

You are right, I did this for the boys and the parents shouldn't get the satisfaction of ruining my fun!

[Cubmaster Jerry]

As someone mentioned, your focus as CM is the boys. If they leave the Pack meeting without smiling and laughing, that is YOUR problem to solve. If you take the Pack on a hike and get lost, then that is YOUR problem to solve.

 

"I am tired of having to do everything". That is also YOUR problem to solve. It is easy to say 'find parents to help' and 'delegate to others' but if you are truly short on Committee help, then you may have to gather the parents and lay it on the line.

 

Quitting only hurts the boys. And besides, it is only November. Rome wasn't built in a day nor can an errant Pack be righted in just a few months.

 

I have always said that the Cubmaster is the coolest job in the Pack.

 

Make it so!

 

[Cubmaster Jerry]

Oh, and to answer your question of whether or not you can quit mid year. No, you can't. We won't let you.

 

Jerry

[Venividi]

"I am tired of having to do everything".

 

I had a similar experience. I did things that I saw weren't getting done because they were things that needed to be done. I continued to ask the committee chair to get folks to do these other tasks (part of his/her job). Asked individuals, and got responses from "no", to "I will think about it." It wasn't until I stopped doing them that others started to pick them up. And it took a number of months of failed and poorly run events until they did.

Taking everything on myself actually made things worse. The longer you continue to do everything, the harder it will be for others to take them on.

A tip I learned in a newsgroup was the poper response to "no", or "I will think about it" is "It is really a shame that you do not have time to spend with your son."

[MarkS]

I saw the same thing earlier this year when I was working some pack related Wood Badge ticket items to help my pack. The more I did for these items, the less involved the other leaders were... CM and CA included.

 

Anyway, when I was done, I thanked them for letting me take charge of these acivities, told them I hoped they got something out of it, and that they could call me if they had any trouble applying what I demonstrated to future activities.

 

I hope things will go well for them after I crossover with my den. It's time to turn loose the reins, move on, and let new leadership take over the pack.

[Newbie Den Leader]

dlw,

 

I would give notice to the Den Leaders of your concerns and frustrations and let them know that you are ready to resign if things do not improve. However, for the sake of the stability of the Pack, I would at least finish out the school year to make time to find a replacement. I'm new to Cub Scouts, but I'm not new to volunteer leadership positions that involve Adult and Youth. If you suddenly quit without warning of your intentions, then the Pack will suffer. If you must quit, allow time for transition.

 

Others here have given you great advice and I would pay attention to their thoughts.

 

"sst3rd" had terrible advice and I would ignore his thoughts.

 

--Jeff