How to Help New Leadership

[Eagle92]

Here's my challenge. Good friend of mine burnt out as SM. very understandable b/c he had has problems with getting enough leaders to help over the years. Troop is relatively new, about 5 years old, and is finally getting to the point where the older scouts are taking charge and doing things they want to do. Best example is that they decided not to attend camporee this year b/c it was a MB seminar. Very outdoor oriented, and do not push advancement.

 

The New SM is the former CM of the pack, and some of the former CS parents have stepped up to the plate to be ASMs to help. That's Great, but something is worrying me and I cannot place it. I'm afraid the troop is going to turn into an adult led troop. What are some ideas, short of me joining the unit ( which I cannot at this time, hopefully in 2.1 years when oldest becomes a BS that will change ) what are some ideas to keep the leaders focused on boy led?

 

I am encouraging them to get trained ASAP, and am even thinking of offering to teach an IOLS class to get them, and a few others trained.

 

Also I know I keep talking about Boy Scouts being youth led to my Bears to get the parents use to hearing that NOW. And one of the new ASMs is also a bear parent in my den.

 

Any other ideas?

[Eagledad]

Your big problem is who the Gate Keeper of the vision is in the troop. There is someone who is going to drive the program. Usually that is the adult with the stronger opinion. I look at as the unit Alpha Adult. You need to identify that person and see what there vision is and how they think the program should get there.

 

Of course training and experience is a big part, but if the SM didnt train the new SM during the last year or two, there may not be a co-understanding of the program. I started training my replacement two years before I left by having him participate in each ASMs job. And I took many walks with him to explain why he was seeing what he saw.

 

If your adults dont really have a good common understanding of the goals and methods to those goals, I think you should volunteer to do some Unit Adult Training of the Aims and Methods and how Your troop is doing that. Our troop does that very class after each SPL election and I asked every parent to attend.

 

Im glad youre thinking this way not to head off future problems. Good luck.

 

Barry

 

[SeattlePioneer]

See if the former SM will serve as Commissioner.

[Eagle92]

Unfortunately the change of command was rather abrupt. When approached on Saturday, new SM said "NO," then on Wednesday it was annoucned he was the new SM. I know he did specifics at summer camp, but don't know about other parents who are stepping up. And they are former or current Cub parents.

 

Good news is that the folks have camping experience. new SM is an Eagle, and he and 2 of the other new ASMs have BALOO. But they are use to car camping, with an emphasis on car. I have hokingly refered to his jeep as his backpack. Then again, I want his jeep .

 

As for the old SM? he is continuing to be an ASM, but the OA is pulling him towards AIA, especially since his son is heavily involved with AIA.

 

I admit I have not been that involved directly with the troop. I did train the SM, point a few like-minded, pro Patrol Method adults his way over the years, and camped once or twice with them. I see a lot of my old troop in that troop, and I don't want it to become an adult led unit like most of the others in my neck of the woods. One reason I visited their feeder pack first was b/c of the troop. Them, and the pack has a great program.

 

Please keep the ideas coming.

[kari_cardi]

Can you join the troop committee? It can be a pretty small time commitment depending on the position, but will give the boy-led contingent another voice at the table. And I agree, train, train, train.

[GKlose]

If I were in that same situation, I would be tempted to do two things:

 

- I would seek out most, if not all of Stosh's postings about his experiences. He seemed to have a way with boy-led that sounded very interesting. I'm thinking of an incident in particular, perhaps it was something like him leading a jamboree contingent troop. He said "I don't do adult-led well, so let's try this..." and then he stepped them through a bunch of boy-led exercises. It was pretty clever, I think.

 

- I'd take a page out of Kudu's book -- I'd get the 3rd edition SM handbook and do a sort of training session with adult leaders. I'd point out to them the old method of training a boy-led patrol, step by step. Then I'd selectively :-) show them sections of the present SM handbook.

 

Guy

[Stosh]

Unless the CC and SM are on the same page, it isn't going to work. The troop I used to serve as SM went from boy-led to adult-led in a heartbeat. The parents waited until a new inexperienced CC took over the committee, rose up, took over the committee and had me ousted. I was in the middle of teaching the Harcourt training when they came out of their meeting and dismissed me. The reason for my dismissal, the boys were expected to do too much leadership. End of story.

 

Stosh

[Tampa Turtle]

GK very good advice. It has taken me a year to get to that realization that is the best approach.

 

Boy-led has much bigger "pay-checks". At the last trip my youngest was in charge of cooking dinner for 4 over a fire. It was on a backpacking trip so things were pretty minimal. I started to give him advice, which he didn't want anyway, and stopped. All I could do was walk far away--it was driving me nuts. I came back 30 minutes later, expecting to say a "will you listen to me now", and his dinner looked beautiful and all the boys were saying how good it was. All I could think was "wow". That said it can be pretty hard to learn to hang back from your own kids.

 

New leadership needs to all be on the same page as much as possible and back each other up. Especially since in the beginning you will get some static and criticism from parents; it can get a little discouraging. Also sometimes you need to remind a parent/ASM to give his own son some space.

[Eagle92]

And that is what I'm afraid of. Just when teh troop is finally getting the youth to lead on their own AND have enough adults to do things, it turns into Webelos III.