What Would You Want in a New SE?

[SR540Beaver]

BP,

 

It wans't criticism. It was a personal observation and opinion. I agree with what you said. Now if councils would just quit hiring DE's straight out of college with no scouting experience.

[shortridge]

BadenP wrote: "Usually a man who has chosen the BSA professional scouting program as his career path has and does know and follow the scout oath and law as well as any volunteer, usually he was a scout as a youth and many were volunteer scouters as well."

 

This may be off-topic enough to warrant a spinoff... but I'm wondering if anyone's seen women who have chosen the BSA professional program as a career path after being Venturers as youth? Venturing has certainly been around long enough now to have started churning out a few potential female DEs after college.

[Eagle92]

Short,

To answer your question I have seen 1 young lady come up through the Exploring/Venturing ranks and become a DE. She wasn't very active during her college days, but did work summer camp. I believe she was a Silver recipient, but don't quote me on that.

[Narraticong]

BadenP-

 

I'm not looking through rose colored glasses whatsoever. I believe the Oath and Law must be at the foundation of everything we do. Our Council Executives are the most important decision makers we employ. As I mentioned, I agree that being an outstanding business manager is a top priority.

 

Maybe you don't see it the same as I do, but i look at Scouts as being a little different from your ordinary business. While most businesses have a mission statement, very few have a moral code by which they operate. Perhaps America would be in better shape if they did. BSA has a moral code by which all members strive to live.

 

So, for me, before we even get to the point of talking about business accomplishments, I want to know that any potential SE also "does his best" to live up to the Oath and Law. As for most of the professionals I have seen, not all meet the criteria. Many come not from a Scouting background, but from a desire to work in a career serving youth. Having a desire to serve youth does not mean one has the same moral compass as required by BSA.

 

Our Scouts hold themselves to a higher standard than other young people. It is therefore imperative that we as volunteers do the same. In turn, we must expect our professionals to live to the same standard. Unless we believe in the Scout Oath and Law, from the top of BSA professional ranks on down, we are doing no more than living a lie.

 

Ken

[Eagle92]

Ken,

While BP can defend himself, I will say this in his defense.

 

1) Yes lots of folks become pros who do have experience as youth in the movement. Some have a hard time transitioning from Scout/Scouter to Professional as their thought is " I can get paid to be a Scout?" others do take the time to research what is involved. I know I served on the district committee and did some job shadowing with my DE prior to becoming a pro. Also worked summer camp staff with pros and worked PT with the supply division.

 

2) The other factor why lots of young pros leave is the leadership environment at the top of the council. While this problem is not everywhere, it was widespread enough when I was a DE as the topic came up at PDL-1.

 

Some pros DO live up to the Oath and Law, and their careers tend to be on the slow moving path. Now grant you if you do an outstanding job, you will get recognized and promoted up through the ranks. BUT I've met folks who have been "creative" in getting their membership stats. It is very hard and discouraging to work your butt off to meet a membership goal that you realize that was set with some of those "creative" membership ideas.

 

And let's not forget the pressure the upper management is applying to you to meet those goals, i.e. "meet the goal or you're fired." I was fortunate enough not to be in that situation, but a friend of mine was, had a nervous breakdown, and left the profession over it. However I have a feeling that if I hadn't left when I did, that threat would have been given to me as I refused to be 'creative" with membership recruitment, and my district was down b/c I did not recharter an extremely large mega unit.

 

Onto the bright side.

 

An SE who has a vision, and begins implementing it CAN be successful. My SE has a vision of providing more programing opportunities to all members. We have implemented a series of CS family campouts and in the process or organizing a mega event for the anniversary. Guess what, our membership is up.

 

To paraphrase a quote, Create a program and they will join!

 

As stated a good SE needs to be a financial steward, spending money wisely and with the most bang for the buck. Scouting isn't cheap as we all know, so knowing the what, when, and where to spend money is important.

 

Communication is another key. Got to be able to communicate your vision.

 

Ok gotta go now.

[John-in-KC]

Ken, you're right, but to me "walking the walk" is part of the search committee's due diligence.

 

That's a weak link in too many organizations. Folks are not willing to do the scut work needed to hire a highly compensated professional. Someone becoming a Scout Executive usually has a long audit trail in his personnel folder. There's plenty of room to check him out in as much detail as needed.

 

That's all the more true in the internet era. You can find a persons' life online. You can find how he treats people.

 

I've become a believer in the all-day interview ... it starts at breakfast and it literally goes to and beyond supper. Different people assess the candidate in different environments. For a candidate SE, that can include taking him/her to the Reservation and talking about facilities ... taking him/her to a District RT and introducing them in whatever volunteer capacity they've had ...

 

At the end of the day, though, all the search work is for naught if the Exec Board does not have a vision for the man who would be servant leader. It's also a lot easier for a Board to hold the SE accountable after hiring if they know him like a well-read book before hiring.

[Basementdweller]

I am going to agree, that the college grad needs to have actually been a boy scout as a youth.

 

How about returning phone calls and emails?

 

Following thru on obligations and commitments.

 

Supporting your volunteers.

 

Showing up a District or Council function once and a while.

 

Caring.

[BadenP]

What do you think a potential SE candidate is going to say in an interview about living the oath and law? How naive are you guys that you believe this is anything that an executive selection committee would even be concerned about except in a very superficial way. If you don't pick the best qualified most experienced candidate the oath and law will be of little value when you find your council camp being sold or your council being merged due to severe financial problems. Wake up and smell the coffee, and get your priorities straight otherwise your council will pay the ultimate price.(This message has been edited by BadenP)

[89camper]

Here is the issue to asking somebody to talk the talk and walk the walk: What does that mean. The Scout Oath and Law are a set of standards to try and live your life by every day. We know that NO person is ALL of those things ALL of the time. So what do we put the weight on and how do we measure success?

 

We promise to keep ourselves physically fit. Does that mean that if one is overweight, he/she should not be considered for the job? What if it is the other way and they are stick that can support their own weight?

 

Morally straight. That is defined by many in many different ways. Did President Bush lie, was he sadly misinformed by the intelligence community or did Iraq ship their WMD's to Syria? We can't decide as a nation, so who decides if he is morally straight and qualified to serve the BSA?

 

Mentally awake. How many Scouters work every day to learn new things. To be well read and well informed? Do they listen to other sides of debate and carefully consider those perspectives? I'm not sure that we can even measure this, or we should.

 

I haven't even begun to speak to the twelve points. If anyone tells you that they completely live up to the Scout Oath and Law everyday, I would tell you that they were either born of a virgin or they are failing point one of the Scout Law. These two codes are not destinations they are journeys. Each of us struggle with them everyday. But, are we truly striving to fulfill them, or are they just empty words. That is the test in my mind.