Not very fair

[Eamonn]

A little while back there was a thread about how much Scout Executives were being paid.

Right now we have a new SE.

I have only talked to him a few times.

He seems like a very nice fellow and seems to want to put the Scouts/youth we serve on the front burner.

The guy who just moved is not a bad fellow, in fact he is a nice guy.

He just wasn't or at least didn't seem to be very good at anything!

The Field Directors he hired? One was arrested and is serving time for sexually assaulting his son's girl friend. The other had his eye on being promoted and made sure he was by using every underhanded, sneaky way he could find. As you might guess I didn't like him and the idea he might one day become an SE does little to make me think that the system really works.

Under our last SE, we seen membership not just decline, but plummet. We went from being in the black to not only being in the red, but after a very close inspection of the books found a line of credit that no one knew about.

While I really don't know. I can't help but feel he got out when he did in July before whatever was going to hit the fan, hit the fan.

Last week a SE who does follow what goes on in the forum, but doesn't post, E-mailed me to say that he thought I was being unfair.

After giving it some thought. I can't help but think he is right.

I did allow my dealings with a couple of damaged apples act as blinders.

Just as in any walk of life we are going to find the good, the bad and if we are very unlucky the ugly.

I think I know about a dozen Scout Executives. Of this dozen ten are really super nice hard working guys.

I'm sure in these days when maybe? Scouts and Scouting isn't as attractive as it used to be and when just making payroll is hard. The life of a SE isn't always easy. I'm sure that at times making cuts and having to make decisions that they know are going to not be popular is tough and having to deal with people like me!! Isn't always easy.

I was being very unfair.

For that I'm sorry.

Eamonn.

[Vicki]

Eamonn, I have served in two churches over the last seven years - the reason I mention it is because, where it comes to dealing with volunteers, ministry and the Boy Scouts are very similar.

 

The point of my e-mail is to say that the person who can just buck up and apologize with no reservations or "buts" is rare indeed, not to mention one who realizes he should apologize in the first place!

 

Nice to "meet" one -

Vicki (edited for punctuation)(This message has been edited by Vicki)

[Oak Tree]

The danger of generalizing about others is an easy trap for us all to fall into. It's important to judge each individual on their own, but at the same time it's a valuable skill to be able to identify patterns of behavior among groups of people.

 

I echo Vicki's sentiments, Eamonn, it's always refreshing to see people who are willing to identify errors in their own behavior. And while you may have been over-generalizing, I think we can all identify people similar to those that you described. Thanks for continuing to post.

 

Oak Tree

[OldGreyEagle]

There is a phrase used from time to time around here and around life, its "perception is reality" so maybe Eamonns SE needs to look at himself and his peers to see where perceptions of SE's and Pro's come from. Each poster needs to look at the reaction they get from other poster's and assess the perceptions that they elicit. I didnt realize I made enough puns to have it be a trademark, but I am ok with that. If responses are continually hostile, it could be that what is considered by a poster to be a perfectly logical response is seen by an other as hostile and that is fair enough, we have seen plenty of personality clashes and no one expects everyone to love everyone else, although we can strive to treat everyone with scoutlike respect. But if reponses continually elicit hostile rebuttals, perhaps ones style needs to be tempered. People come to the Forum for information, when possible I like to give a link to the source giving the BSA answer. Others like to offer an opinion, its up to the inquisitor to decide what to do, It would help if we offered our own opinions without demeaning others although I recognize I have a timber in my eye I must remove before I worry about cinders in others.

[Bob White]

"But if reponses continually elicit hostile rebuttals, perhaps ones style needs to be tempered."

 

Perhaps it is the hostile rebuttals that should be tempered?

 

 

[evmori]

Styles on these forums vary from poster to poster! Some inflame other intentionally, others inflame without realizing they do & others are just there! It seems to be the ones who are unaware they inflame others that cause most of the problems.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Eamonn]

OK !!

Are we done?

Eamonn.

[Gold Winger]

"The life of a SE isn't always easy. I'm sure that at times making cuts and having to make decisions that they know are going to not be popular is tough and having to deal with people like me!!"

 

The life of no CEO is easy but they usually make up for it with a great paycheck, great benefits, a wonderful parachute and the knowledge that no matter how badly they do, another job awaits thanks to the 'ol boys network.