Trying to do the job alone

[Buffalo Skipper]

I recently called a meeting of all our ASMs. I have worked hard to recruit new leaders to assist with the program. I first secured an application from a very excited retiring Cubmaster of one of our charter organization's packs; his son is a 5th grade Webelos and he earned his Eagle in our troop nearly 20 years ago. Next I recruited a church member Eagle from another troop, who recently returned to the area; he was very excited to be getting involved in Scouting again. His troop folded shortly after he aged out half a dozen years ago or so, and he was glad to find a home in his church troop; I even signed his father to our committee. I have also worked to involve our recent now 18+ scouts (all Eagles) who have participated in recent activities. And finally in our ASM cadre there are the 2 most recent SMs who stepped down last year and in 2002 (the latter for lack of help).

The main purpose of the meeting was to have everyone meet, as not everyone knew one another. I wanted to work together to set a direction for our leadership and determine how active each would be, as I knew some would be more involved than others. It was my intention to keep it a very informal gathering, and rather than have a formal agenda (like a committee meeting) I chose to start the meeting by reading an excerpt from the Venturing Officer Training syllabus. It reads:

Trying To Do The Job Alone

 

Dear Sir,

I am writing in response to your request for additional information for my insurance claim.  In block number three of the accident claim form I wrote, "Trying to do the job alone" as the cause of my accident.  You said in your letter that I should explain that statement more fully. I trust the following details will be sufficient. 

I am a bricklayer by trade.  On the date of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six-story building.  When I completed my work I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over.  Rather than carrying the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which was attached to the side of the building at the sixth-floor level.   Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the bricks into it.  Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of bricks.  You will note in Block 2 of the claim form that my weight is 135 pounds.

Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope.  Needless to say, I proceeded up the side of the building at a very rapid rate of speed.  In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down.  This explains my fractured skull and collarbone.  Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.  By this time, I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain.

At approximately the same time however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel.  Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel then weighed approximately 50 pounds.  I refer you again to the information in Block 2 regarding my weight. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.  In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up.  This accounts for the two fractured ankles and the lacerations of my legs and lower body.  This second encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks, and fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked. 

I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks in pain, unable to stand, and watching the empty barrel six stories above me, I again lost my presence of mind, and let go of the rope.  The empty barrel weighed more than the rope so it came down upon me and broke both of my legs.

I hope I have furnished information sufficient to explain why "trying to do the job alone" was the stated cause of the accident.

After years of a lack of support in the troop's adult leadership, I was excited about the meeting, as I finally felt the troop was going to have the kind of support we had not had in well over a dozen years.  I envisioned being able to share with everyone one small aspect of responsiblitly so that I would be able to focus on working with the scouts rather than constantly struggling to keep every detail from falling apart.  Going into the meeting, I really felt it I had done a reasonable job of getting things back on track with the troop.

Of the 7 ASMs who had committed to the meeting, only 2 showed up (one a former SM and another a 20 yo troop Eagle who is too involed in college to be active).  Also last month, our committee never scheduled a meeting and with 2 long campouts scheduled for July and August (3 and 4 nights each), and only one ASM and a treasurer (both of whom are reaonably dependable), I can't tell you how let down I felt.  Our advancement coordinator hasn't been to a meeting in 4 months, and has arranged only 3 BoRs all year.  The last one she was just too busy, so I set it up for 4 scouts in one night.

Outside of the council popcorn fundraisers (which we only did this year), the troop hasn't scheduled a fundraiser in almost 3 years.  Only twice in a year have I seen a parent offer to help and transport or participate in an outing.  And surely you have heard me rant about the council MBC fiasco. 

I am not about to step down, but I am not sure what more I can do before I have to file an accident report, filling in block 3, the cause being "Trying to do the job alone."

[Gunny2862]

I'm going to presume you are the SM, what's your CC doing?

[scoutldr]

I can empathize. Our first mistake is climbing up on that roof with no one else in sight.

[Buffalo Skipper]

Our committee chair is a great guy. Sons long out of scouting, still wanting to be involved. Makes campouts a time or two a year (great with the scouts, when the occasion arrises). He is very hands off and low key. He works off-shore, two weeks on, two off. Switches shifts periodically so we never know when he is in town and a meeting is scheduled; he sends out "reminders" the day before the committee meets. He goes through his agenda but won't commit to anything. The fundraising coordinator (my wife) has brought up numerous fundraisers. They discuss it and move on to the next item. Never a commitment to do anything. When he is offshore, nothing really happens, which is barely a measureable amount less than when he is in town.

 

And yes I am the SM. In the 3 years I was on the committee before stepping up, we had a whole year without a single committee meeting. I worked hard through our church to "recruit" a good COR. This man is a retired board member of the regional electric utility. He has held every volunteer post in our church, except for the president of the United Methodist Women--and he almost held that once (true story, hehe). He eagled with the troop in 1953, his son in 1983, and he was SM from 1960-63, as well as the district chair from 1990-91, and innumerable positions in between. He is neither a slouch nor a pushover. His health has been less than optimal the past year or so, but now all of his maintenance work is done (eyes, heart, knees) and he is much more active. He and I are friends, but he is not "my man," so to speak, which is why I recruited him in the first place. I wanted someone who would do what is best for the unit, and I hope he will. But he is cautious and he is works very slowly though deliberately.

 

I have worked hard (prehaps too hard) with most every thing which has happened with the troop in the past year, but I am frustrated that all that effort seems to be for not. I have quietly worked with scouts to recruit new blood in a small troop so that we to see that we have a good healthy unit, and they have. All our older scouts are "semi-active" at best, and there is a near 4 year gap between them and the rest of the troop. Consequently I am struggling to find the time to train youth leaders, which considering the membership dynamic is where most of my effort should be at this point.

 

How do you recruit committee and ASMs who show up and do a job?

[Gunny2862]

Look for the right people and realize it will probably be a one at a time journey unless you happen to be incredibly fortunate - if you do find the secret tho be sure to share!

[bamasm]

I can sympathize, I have a similar situation, I was not a scout as a child so I really like being a scouter, I am however a hunter and fisherman, and all around outdoorsman. I am also ex military so I get scouting in a big way. I have struggled through this past year with me, my wife and the cc. I can see some light at the end of the tunnel though. I have picked up a couple dedicated asm in the last few months. Life does get better with more help. After I took over the SM position we had about 6 active boys, one patrol, and 4 that were already 17-18 yrs old. 1 had just completed his eagle, the other 3 had not even attempted it, and the clock was ticking. 3 have made it, and one is working his project now before his 18th b day. one issue we have is we have a large pack 40-50 kids, troop now is 24 boys and growing. Our scout hut sits on 20 acres of land that our CO owns. Guess who does all the upkeep? DING DING DING survey says SCOUTMASTER!!!!! I have begged pleaded came up with a fair and balanced mowing plan so no one has to mow more than once during a season. No one ever shows, and the one time they did was because they had a cub activity that day. I wish folks cared more, but unfortunatly this is the world we live in. Me and a few of the scouts upkeep the place on a regular basis.Maybe the new ASM will help out. I think we just run til our bulb burns out and then a new bulb gets put in. just sayin.

[desertrat77]

I think it's a sign of the times. I'm in the military, and sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get folks to keep commitments. Sure we can get almost everyone to fulfill their official duties (as you know, there are always a few that don't get it). But when it comes to professional organizations and volunteering for fundraisers and the like, people sign up with great enthusiasm and then no-show in droves.

 

Same with parents and rsvp'ing for birthday parties...if they bother to rsvp at all, it's still a gamble if they will show up.

 

Scouting is a reflection of society. And we have so many competing priorities, I think none of them get due attention.

 

I think folks are involved in so much, they don't focus on anything long enough to gain any depth.

[asm 411]

My take on recruiting anyone to do anything is simply this you have to ask one person to do one job directly. More specifically you have to ask one person to one task at a time. There are few people who can be counted on to take on a volunteer position ( Advancemnt Chair or Committee Chair or even ASM) figure it out and just do it.

 

You will have to follow-up and verify the person is on target to complete these initial tasks. As time passes you will find who you can count on and who will still need to continual prodded along. Those who can be counted on after several tasks have been complete you can ask to fill a Troop position. If they agree encourage them to go to training to make it easier for them to do that job and so they can do it correctly.

 

The key is that for a time, perhaps a long time, you will need to be very dedicated to assigning and managing jobs outside the SM realm of responsibility. As time goes on you will build a group of adults that you can trust to be there. As your are working with these volunteers make sure to mention that if they can handle this aspect of running the Troop you can focus on working with the Scouts which is where your time is best spent.

 

Our current Scoutmaster has been at this for 3.5 years and we have a few who can be counted on at this point to handle things regularly and a few we know if we need someone to cover for us they will be there. It is a slow process.

 

I guess my advice to you is to start recruiting people to do tasks and not positions initially. In doing this you teach them the importance of doing stuff for the Scouts in the Troop and raise their comfort level in being involved.

 

When I sit down with incoming Scouts and parents I explain to them that our Troop has typically about 25 boys involved. That is basically 50 paretns. If every parent does about 2% of the work then things will run very smooth. Everybody

agrees to this but is still takes asking them one at a time and to take on one task at time to get them truly involved.

 

This seems to work for us. I wish I knew of a quicker path but so far none has presented itself.