How long should one serve as Cubmaster?

[OwntheNight]

Way to go 'Fish!

 

I'm finishing up my first year as CM. Our CO has said they want the CM to only serve 2 years and then hand the reigns over to somebody else. I thought I had my replacement lined up with our Tiger DL...former Boy Scout, great with the kids, really excited about Cub Scouts. Well real life got in the way, more of his time is being devoted to work in a new position. His wife has stepped up and been running the last month of den meetings and Go See It's. I'm now hearing through the leadership grapevine that he's probably going to step down as DL and move to ADL next year. With only 2 active dens, now that our WEB's are crossing over on Saturday, It looks like I need to have a sit down with the COR and discuss an option year for my 3rd year as CM. Of course that would be my son's final year in the pack, so it would kind of force the pack's hand to get another CM lined up.

 

Gonna have to find that diamond in the rough during Spring Recruiting !

[Scouting4Ever]

I started the week before our Packs Blue and Gold, the other guy left us high and dry.

 

This month was my third B&G. My ACM will take over this May and I will have completed about 2.5 years as the Cubmaster. I will spend the next 2 years with the Webelos Den and helping to find an ACM to take over for him when he completes his 2 years.

[scoutpack329]

The secret to my pack's success is the depth of leadership. I've been CM for nearly 3 years (and ACM for year before). Like any good organization, if leadership rotates too frequently, you lose institutional memory. There will also be the problem of accountability and the learning curve. I'm always on the lookout for my replacement but I've got a Tiger so I'll stick around for a while longer. If you can develop your ACM(s) (I have 2) and the Pack Committee, over time leadership simply bubbles up.

 

I think 3 or 4 is good. At 2, you've nailed down the kinks. I've started my search for my replacement and I figure 2 years of training/searching will be sufficient. I'll still be CM for at least 1 year after my Webelos moves to a Troop. Why? Continuity. Otherwise, leaving mid-year means that I drop the ball for the next leader and no matter how much you have prepared your replacement, a mid-stream change means that your pack parents will have to adjust (to a new person) for the remainder of the school year and summer.

 

FYI - I've got 52 kids in my Pack and when I started it was only about 12. Strong reliable leadership on the top coupled with fostering shared responsibility creates the opportunity for growth. Growth means you'll get new families and families that want to join the "best" pack in the area. Coupled with a "no drop off rule", you can encourage families to be active scout parents since they have to be there anyways.

[perdidochas]

A cubmaster should stay until he/she finds a suitable replacement.

[AnnLaurelB]

I was asked this the other day; a Bear parent asked me where I saw myself in 2 years, and the gist of it was that she hoped I would move up to the Troop with our sons.

 

But SP329 said what I was thinking - that I couldn't leave right in the middle of the Cub Scout year when my son bridges. I'd stay on as CM for at least the rest of that season. If someone was chomping at the bit to take over, then those few months could be used to train them.

 

On the other hand, if no one wanted it, and I was still having fun, I could see staying on, for the sake of that continuity. The SM of our Troop doesn't have any sons still in; his second Eagle son aged out 2 years ago. But he still feels the Troop needs him...although he has hinted that at some point he'll need to retire.

 

I'm flattered that the Bear parent hopes I become a Troop Scouter, and I'd certainly be willing to help in any way I could, but I don't see myself as SM just because my kid moves up. After all, I *am* a GIRL, and what teenage boy wants somebody's mother on their campouts?

 

No, I'd be willing to be on the Troop Committee, or be a badge counselor or do their publications/communications, but for pure fun (and the booger jokes), I may hang around with the little guys for a while.