What Would You Want in a New SE?

[SR540Beaver]

Our SE is moving on to become the SE of Dan Beard Council in Ohio as of January 1st. A good friend of mine who serves on a number of committees at the council level has input into the search for our new SE. This person posed the question to me and a few other friends of, "what would you like to see in our new SE?"

 

So, I pose the question to all my fellow Scouters here. If your council were searching for a new SE and you were asked to throw in your two cents, what would you want?

[John-in-KC]

Rank order your strengths and weaknesses as a Council.

 

Look for someone who can attack the weaknesses while maintaining the strengths.

 

That's far easier said than done.

 

If the facilities are in good shape, and the fundraising is in good shape, but recruiting and retention suck, then you need someone who knows how to sell the program to kids, and then knows how to keep the program going to kids.

 

If the facilities are in poor shape, but fundraising is OK and plenty of youth are joining and staying, then you need someone who specializes in program, and can deal with the specialized fundraising of facilities.

 

If the facilities are ok, and the youth membership is ok, but the budget is in the tank, you need someone who can fundraise.

 

Or you can simply steal Jim Terry (VP-CFO) or Brian Gray (HA Programs) from the National Offices with a tremendous amount of luchre.

[Oak Tree]

I would be interested in some of the following things:

 

- what has he or she done in previous jobs, or what does he or she plan to do, to strengthen and support existing units?

- what is the candidate's position on transparency and communication with the membership? What can he or she point to that supports the claims?

- what evidence is there that a candidate shows good judgement and good interpersonal relationship skills? I'd want someone who had low staff turnover and relatively few controversies in their past. I'd also want evidence that the candidate knows how to manage a budget.

- I would not need for the candidate to be a long-time BSA employee, but they do need some familiarity with the program.

- I'd want them to have ideas on how they could make things better. Not just keep things running well, but actually improve them. How would they go about identifying the biggest inhibitors to Scouting in the council? How would they approach fixing those issues? I'd probably ask a variety of hypothetical questions just to see how they would deal with various issues.

* Suppose a council is running a deficit. What steps might you take to reign in expenses?

* Likewise, what steps might you take to increase revenue?

* What would you do to get more Scouts to attend summer camp?

* How would you make a decision about whether to sell council property, or decide whether to make more capital investment in a camp?

* How might you apply technology to the council's operation to improve organization and efficiency?

 

I'd want someone who is an effective communicator, who can inspire others, who can get the local well-to-do to contribute to Scouting. The ideal candidate should be comfortable moving in lots of different circles.

[Eagle92]

Don't want a new SE, like the one I got thank you very much

 

Seriously though John gave some great advice. For me the quality I like the most is the attitude that "This is for the youth" and then follows through. Yes SEs have to make some tough decisions, but the ability to focus on what's best for the youth AND communicate it is very important. Seeing what their track record is with programing is key. My philosophy has been that if you have a great program, they will come.

 

And my SE is the first one in a VERY long time that I've seen with that attitude, and ability to communictae it to the volunteers. Do I agree with every decision he makes, no I do not. But ee does take the time to explain the rational for doing it, and whether you agree with it or not, you will undestand the purpose of it.

 

So don't be looking to steal my SE

[SR540Beaver]

eagle92,

 

What was your SE's name again?

[eaglescout1996]

Our Council just went through that, and it was explained to us from a member who was on the search committee that they used John's technique.

 

Our SE is moving on to be the NE Regional Executive, so the search committee was comitted to find someone who would work on our weaknesses while preserving our strengths.

 

We think we got him, as we received the previous SE of Dan Beard Council on December 1st.

 

I haven't met him yet, but it looks like he'll be attending our Lodge Winter Banquet in a few weeks, so we'll see.

[John-in-KC]

E92 added a key element to my thoughts, thanks!

 

There are two other things, and E92 brought them to my mind:

 

- No matter what, I want to know that this man/woman does not claim his victory with a pile of former employees under his feet. A good manager will develop his talent and make the workplace and the co-workers people of value.

 

- No matter what, I want to know that this man/woman is committed to his volunteers. Mutual loyalty engenders success, on both sides.

[BadenP]

From my own firsthand personal experiences the main question you need to ask is "Can you manage the council's money and property responsibly, and please give some specific detailed examples."

 

If he can't answer that one question fully to the satisifaction of the board the rest of his background is meaningless. An SE who has ever put another council in any type of financial bind needs to be dismissed as a candidate, no matter what he knows about program.

[Eagle92]

Ray Franks is his name, and you can't have him, he's ours . One of the things that really appeals to a lot of the old timers is that he is a "local boy," growing up in the council as a youth, and having his 1st professional job here. So he has lots of roots and connections in place. That's got to help with some of the difficult things that sometimes needs to be done.

 

I like him because, as one of my former peers in PDL-1 commented "program freaks...we smell our own." And Franks is definately for program.

[WAKWIB]

Everything said above is good advice. In the environment where I serve Scouting, we have great numbers, great retention, great facilities etc. There is not a lot to really complain about. But a trait I would love to see in our current or a new SE would be a focused plan to "sell" Scouting to the community. It seems that we lack the big corporate/philanthropic donor base we once had in the past. We have plenty of opportunities to pass the hat amongst the men and women who give that "just one hour a week." It seems to me that, in our Council we're asking that cow to give a lot of milk and not looking at the larger herd.

[BadenP]

WAKWIB

 

All corporate and foundation giving is way down for the last two years in case you haven't heard we are in a full scale recession.

[WAKWIB]

And, BP, a full scale recession does not mean that money has disappeared from the face of the earth.

It does mean that corporations and foundations will be more discriminating in sharing their wealth. We still try to go fishing even when the last guy at the pond says they are not biting. A good SE should have the skill at putting together a strategy to position Scouting in the minds of those who will give when the time comes. It is a matter of competing with other causes for limited resources.

[BadenP]

Unfortunately WAKWIB with all the worthwhile competiting charities out there in need that are providing help to people in desperate need just to be able to survive the BSA is towards the bottom of the list, if its even on the list at all. Why, because the BSA does not in any stretch of the imagination provide any essential services to help those who are down and out, second the BSA has had poor to no publicity for the past 20+ years, thirdly like the YMCA, Girl Scouts, Little League, etc, our society would be able to get along just fine if the BSA no longer exsisted.

 

The days of the corporate dole out because an executive was a former scout are all but over as many of the new and upcoming corporate moguls were never scouts. The BSA needs to learn to be more self sufficent if it intends to survive, and it needs to prove to the rest of the world that the organization is much more than just a group of boys marching around in uniforms camping in the woods. That is a much taller order than most SE's or even National could ever fill.

[John-in-KC]

I'm in WAKWIB's council (heck, we're in the same District).

 

While we're a UW agency, we're no longer drawing funds from the general donation. Our council is pretty much self-sufficient with its ability to fundraise.

 

Our current SE is a membership guy. He was brought on to deal with the need to replenish the seed corn. It's working. Our year over year numbers have been steadily going up in Cubbing, and should reflect into Troops in this and following transition classes.

 

Of course, ourselves and Pony Express to our north have an advantage most Councils do not: We have the legacy of the Great! H Roe Bartle, SE par excellence, who gave St Joe and Kansas City 25 years leadership before moving to volunteer status as he became the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. His words, and his belief in quality program for the youth, are still mantras for professional and volunteer alike.

[Eagle92]

BP made a good comment about corporate giving being down and the BSA hurting. I know that the UW agency I volunteer for didn't meet their goal this year, and several of the corporate donors either didn't increase their pleadges, or simply ignored requests to give at all.

 

As for UW, there is a very strong anti-BSA bias in my neck of the woods that affects my council ( FWIW the UW agency I volunteer for is proBSA, but gives to another council). Several of the large UWs only do designations only for my council, and it's getting worse. On of the smaller UW agencies is now either substantially lowering their gift or doing designations only for my council (sorry can't remember which one)b/c of the success of the local council's FOS and the need of other agencies who are not surviving.

 

So I fo one think it's time to look for some self sufficiency.