Leader not doing their job!

[iwannaBaCubscout]

I am the committee chair person. Our committe reviews and elects leaders/committe members once a year in may. So what do I do if the Cubmaster is failing now? Failing How? 1. not following through 2. canceling den meetings 3. always making excuses 4. not helping with fund raising 5. not attending leaders meetings 6. Alwayas late Shall I go on? I am so very frustrated! This person has no assistant Den Leader in place to take over their den. It's almost like they're trying to sabotage our pack. How would you handle this?

[dg98adams]

Before you "fire him" you also need to "recruit" new leaders, and get them to training.

 

As CC you support/establish the framework.

[scoutldr]

First thing I see is the CM should not also be a DL. That's too much for one person to do both well, in my opinion. If people are having to double up on jobs, then you have some more recruiting to do.

[Crew21_Adv]

iwannaBaCubscout,

 

 

 

In another organization I belong to, just a few years ago, a buddy of mine was the top performer of the year out of 10,000 peers. He received a plaque, lapel pin, handshakes, pat on the back and etc.

 

The next year, he was nominated (multiple times by many peers) to a board position, he accepted and was voted in.

 

It was the wrong decision; he is still a great guy, but totally incapable of fulfilling that specific board position. Six months into the year, I had to ask him to resign the board position so that we could hold a special election just to replace him. A great guy, good friend, well meaning, but we barely recovered from the administrative damage that he caused.

 

dg98adams gave you good advice. As the Committee Chair for your unit, be sure that you have a trained and qualified adult that can assume Cubmaster duties. (it would probably create more havoc to remove a failing leader without having any quality replacement at all)

 

Further, how would I handle this.

I would go to your current Cubmaster and ask him if he would prefer either an easier job or more help to accomplish his task. Possibly the Cubmaster has good plans but needs an Assistant Cubmaster or secretary to carry out those plans. Or possibly he/she needs to allow someone else (better qualified) to assume Cubmaster. Then hold a special election, as you do in May.

 

Good Luck!

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv(This message has been edited by Crew21_Adv)

[OneHour]

... so I am reading that this person is both the Cubmaster and a Den Leader? If so, why? It can happen, but why tax an individual with running the pack and running a den? It should be someone else.

 

Let's assume that you were referring to the Cubmaster position.

Questions: is he/she cancelling the pack meetings? Why? No support? Was it planned by the committee? Where is the Assistant Cubmaster? Where are the supporting cast members from the pack (eg, from committee)? You are the CC. You are the boss of the committee and the CM. Where were the other den leaders who should be lending a hand at the pack meeting? Sometimes, it can be overwhelming! When I was the CM, I had to do everything (due to the lack of a strong CC). I got burned out after a while! As for fundraiser, he/she should help but not running the fund raiser. That job belongs to the committee! He/she may participate. Final question, was he/she trained?

 

Let's assume that it is a Den Leader position.

Qustions: Was he/she trained in serving as a Den Leader? Where is the Cubmaster? Shouldn't he/she make sure that the Den is running smoothly including having an assistant Den Leader, a program is set up? Is this a new den? If it is, then is there an experienced den leader who can get them started? Where are the other parents? Why are they not stepping up to help to run the den? The den duties can be split up. It will need the CM to help divide up the chores. Where is the committee in providing the support? The CM is the boss. As in any good boss, he/she needs to make sure that the Den Leader has everything that is needed to run the den. The CM needs to keep a pulse on the den to make sure that it is running and check on the leader from time to time. Hence, the needs to have the CM and the Den Leader two individuals.

 

... cancelling meetings, not following through, excuses, not helping with fund raisers, not attending leaders meeting ... sound like someone is overworked, underpaid, and totally overcommitting him/herself in all directions!I don't think that anyone would be trying to sabotage cub scouting. I could be wrong, but I have been there and seen it. This particular scenario plays out over and over again, especially with someone who is 1) new to the job and is overwhelmed, 2) burned out, or 3) has his/her own hidden agenda. The last one (3) is pretty obvious in terms of the negativities and conflicts that usually come with the territory.

 

Final question, as a CC, have you talked to the person and find out what's not shown?

 

Good luck!

 

The hardest and most challenging leadership position is one that has to work with volunteers!

 

 

YIS,

 

1Hour

 

 

(This message has been edited by OneHour)

[ScoutNut]

I agree with the other posters. This person is doing to much and as a result is doing nothing well.

 

Talk to the CM/DL, & find out what is going on with them. Tell him/her how the Pack/den is being affected. Find out which job (CM or DL) they would prefer to do.

 

It is YOUR job as CC to recruit new leaders as needed. Recruit an Assistant Den Leader for the den and either a new CM or a new DL.

[John-in-KC]

I'm joining the pile on.

 

Have you discussed this with your Chartered Organization Representative?

 

Have you looked at the the discussion of Administration in the Cub Scout Leader Book (No. 33221)?

 

You may want to read this:

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/510-500.pdf

 

BSA publishes a lot of literature. There are best practices and good ideas if you take the time to read it and then apply it.

[BellaMomma]

Greetings.

 

I have a couple of comments to make that I hope will be encouraging to iwannaBaCubscout. We are just coming out of the sort of situation you seem to be describing. I'm not sure of all the teminology so apologize in advance for any errors - I'll try to be as clear as possible!

 

The pack my boys and husband are involved in has just gone through a shake up because of the same sorts of things listed. The Cubscout Pack Leader was having difficulties in fulfilling all his obligations, and my husband and his co-Den leader were really feeling cut off from ALL of the rest of the world of Scouting. A lot of this was due to them both being relatively new to the scouting world when they started with this a few years ago, and not knowing who in the world to contact about anything other than the Cub Master. The only reason they wound up as the Den Leaders is that they knew that if they didn't fill the job, our boys wouldn't be able to be in Scouts. They had a basic idea of what a Den Leader does and had some basic training, but then felt they were cut adrift with no way back to shore.

 

It had gotten to the point that about 6 months ago that when they were told clandestinely by the Pack Leader that he was going to be moving away soon, the two of them seriously discussed just letting it go and finding something else for the boys to be involved in. This would have been easier than it could have been, because the only boys involved in the dens they were running were our two families' and one other boy, who's mother was as fed up with the situation as they were.

 

They both decided that it was worth making the effort to go above that person in the chain of command to try to keep the pack alive. *laughin* My husband even bit the bullet and said he'd be the one to step into the position if that was what it would take. Gratefully, they discovered that they WEREn't alone out there and that the lady who is whatever the next step up is, is more than happy to get them all the information they could ever ask for. She has bent over backward to make sure they know what is going on in the district in the way of training and what they need to do to get their training and to get reorganized. She's just happy to have someone wanting to make the pack a stronger one I think. *laughin*

 

Long story short, both my husband and his friend are much more relaxed about the whole thing now and have gotten several training things under their belts. They feel confident that things will be better in the future, and are digging in for the long haul. (Which is good since we still have two boys that aren't old enough for scouts yet)

 

My husband at this point is still Cubmaster AND Den leader, but mostly that's because we only had the introductory meeting after the recruiting 2 weeks ago, and the Boot Camp last week. There were quite a few new boys with parents who seem to be willing to jump on board so hopefully things will even out soon. We'll give them another week or so to cotton to the idea before we start dragging them into leadership by their ears. Just kidding on that one, but we do have high hopes that others will step up to the plate as soon as the need is made known. Especially with the knowledge that there will be a support system, not just a sink or swim attitude as had been felt previously.

 

Hang in there and see if there are some people who just don't know who to go to for the information. And I agree with OneHour about talking to the person you're concerned about to see what THEY need. Sometimes our frustration blinds us to that of others'. That may be all it takes to open up a good chat about what needs to change. Biting off more than you can chew can choke you, and knowing it's ok to ask for help can be a BIG relief!

 

Hope this gives you some encouragement that you're not the only one it happens to, and that it can get better.

 

Be Blessed,

 

Bella

[charchar]

Thank You for that web address very helpful. Sorry if I change the topic but I need help I am a new Cubmaster and this person is a lesion, committee chair and Treasure. Now I know that is two many titles I am also not sure who else is on the bank acct, I do not even have health history records. I do not want the pack to go down it took me so long I think I found our unit comissioner no one knows, this person wants complete control and I am not going to give up!!! HELP please

[John-in-KC]

charchar,

 

In your case, start with a conversation between you, your Unit Commissioner, and your Chartered Organization Representative.

[Stosh]

One of the issues seem to be the Peter Principle where one rises to their lowest level of incompetency. As a parent they may have been totally into scouting as their boy entered scouts. Then they took on DL, which was a bit of a stretch because all he really wanted to do was be with his boy. Then when there was a lack of a warm body they got him into CM position where he's really out of his element. How he's got no time for his boy, but he still would rather and does spend more time with his boy than with Pack and/or Den. The next step is to make him an ASM in the troop where he will maybe do okay as long as he hangs out with his boy and then when the Troop needs a new SM he's tapped out. Yeah, right, that's going to work....

 

There are times when nobody is better than anybody, but we push on putting unqualified, uniterested people into positions where they really don't want to be, and then whine when things don't work out. I've seen it work out this way many times and not just Scouts.

 

A little more time evaluating attitudes and skills would go a long way in insuring success in the various scout units. Yeah, right, he's struggling as a DL, so let's make him CM, too! It's not a matter of IS this going to fail, but a matter of WHEN is this going to fail. Well meaning committees can set up people to fail just as easily as unit leaders can set up their boys for failure if they don't think it through in the first place.

 

Stosh