Leaders with Tenure vs. those that follow sons through the ranks

[blw2]

I have been thinking as I have been reading posts lately, that there seems to be a high number of Scouters taht have tenure in their positions.... meaning that they have served for more than one yer in a given position.

In my pack, it seems that the leaders follow the ranks with their kid. Tiger DL this year, Wolf DL next year, etc... The exception being that they tend to follow their oldest boy through, and the little brothers trail behind... if that makes sense.

To me this makes sense.... I want to be with my son, not stay in Tigers when he moves up....

But at the same time, it seems taht expertice never has a chance to develop.

 

Anyway, to my question - is my pack typical or an exception?

 

[perdidochas]

Pretty typical. That's what I did, except I kind of jumped around. Started out as Tiger Cub Den Leader of my younger son's den. Then I became Bear Leader of my older son's den, then Webelos for older son (18 months) and finished up with a year of Webelos leader for my younger son. Now am an advancement coordinator for their Troop.

[jonathanrbaker]

Our leaders tend to follow the boys, except for our Webelos Den Leader, who is also an ASM with our troop, which really helps with the transition... Our Bear Den Leader just jumped back to Tigers with his younger boy since his older boy is going into Webelos.

[dg98adams]

This is the way it happens in Cub Scouts, if you have an anchor leader who gets the program sometimes they stay.

 

Sometimes there's a place for them to move to with a 2nd or 3rd child to bounce to...

 

The changeover in Cub Scouts from rank to rank then loss of the CM is the ONLY consistent fact you can count on.

 

The Pack needs to constantly have a plan for someone to step up.

 

I always told my new Cub Leaders, your first and last job is to find and train your replacements.

[mdlscouting]

I only know one Cub Leader that stayed in a Den after his son moved up. He's about to start his third den of Tigers next School Year. He's an Eagle Scout, and also my Assistant CM.

 

Now, if I can just get him to teach the parents to take over gradually during the school year, instead of carrying them on his back the whole way.

[Basementdweller]

I followed my son thru cubs as his den leader and CM....

 

I stayed on for a few years after he joined the troop.....Just wasn't anyone interested in doing the webelos den leader and the previous couple had been so poor that zero boys joined the troop.

[SeattlePioneer]

>

 

 

Now that is a Troop that is on the ball!

 

If more troops were that smart, we would have more Cub Scouts and more Boy Scouts and a lot less failing units.

[Scoutfish]

First year, I was on committee, then I was an ADL, then a DL, then the last two years, I was CM.

 

Being CM probably helped alot with my also being an ASM _ As CM, I was involved with my son in Cub Scouts, but was not his "direct contact" leader.

 

Although I was in the pack, my son had alot of freedom....which is still going strong in the troop setting.

 

My son is now in te troop, and I am also in the troop, but I am also still with the Pack as an ACM.

 

I found a great guy to take over as CM. He was a Tiger Dl years ago with his first sone, stepped back into the role afer his Bear year when his second son became a Tiger. Stepped back into that role when his 3rd son became a Tiger.

 

I had just spent a year helping our CC gain experience and to think outside the box.He has 2 more years to go before he crosss out .

 

I have set into place the next 3 years worth of Tiger den leaders too:

 

Next years Tiger DL was this years Tiger ADL. Year after that, the Tiger DL will be this years 2nd year Webelos DSL. The year after that will be this years 2nd year Webelos ADL.

 

This is working our great for the pack to have an experienced DL in Tigers. Instead of having to fiund somebody/anybody, we have the DL in place. This gives us an advantage in being able to identify the the Tiger ADL or the next years ADL's early on.

 

Next year, I will step completely out of the pack setting, but will go without any qualms or worries.

 

But as for parents moving with up their scouts, that is the norm.

 

 

[Eagle92]

I followed oldest from Tiger to Bear. He's ready for me to move along, and I need to be the TCDL with middle son. I'll be with him for Tiger and Wolves, then move back to Tigers with youngest.

 

Youngest is stuck with me all the way through

[ZScout5]

The only packs I know where the parents stay at one level and don't move up with their scout, are the LDS units. Being the x den leader or cm is a church calling and the person will be the x den leader for several years.

 

These units also move their scouts to the next rank individually on their birthday, not all together at the end of the school year. Their are scouts coming in/exiting a den all the time. However, since the dl continuously runs the same program year after year, 2 scouts may move up at two different times of year, but at their next bd when they move up, they will have received the same total program.

 

Having a leader who is experienced and is comfortable with the program is the advantage of not moving leaders up with their scout. I think that not moving would be difficult in a traditional unit.

 

In the example of a troop ASM being the Webelos den leader, does the dl have a scout in the pack or do the two units share a Chartered Org?

[jonathanrbaker]

The ASM/WDL is an older scouter whose boys have aged out of both programs. He's been a tremendous asset, and just received the Silver Beaver in February. The Pack and Troop share the same CO.

[Second Class]

In Cub scouts, it seems to be the exception rather than the rule about leaders staying after their sons move up.

 

From my experience, and I suspect yours, to, is that leaders track with their sons all the way through, and it is the exception, then, rather than the rule that these leaders stay after their sons leave the program.

 

How many 40+ year tenure Scoutmaster's do you know? That you've heard of?

30?

20?

10?

How about 5?

 

I read somewhere that the average tenure for Scoutmaster's was 19 months.

 

I think these are the leaders that give the program continuity. Just my opinion.

[Basementdweller]

I know two 20 plus year SM's.... A handful of 5 year sm's....

[ScoutNut]

Yep, our old Scoutmaster was 20+ years, our current Scoutmaster is 5+.

 

The Scoutmaster of another Troop I know of was 10+. His replacement is at 7+.

 

I know of many long term Scoutmasters.

 

In our Pack, the Cubmaster is 10+ years.

 

I was a leader of my son's den from 2nd grade Wolf, thru 5th grade Webelos.

 

When he was in 4th grade, the 1st grade Tigers needed a leader, or there would have been no Tiger den that year. So I took that on as well, and stayed with the Tiger den for another 11+ years.

 

Son came back to the Pack as a Den Chief when he was 11 years old, in 6th grade, and left when he was a 20 year old Assistant Den Leader.

 

Our Unit Commissioner has been with the Pack, and Troop, (in various roles) since his son was in 1st grade. He is now a great-grandfather.

[kari_cardi]

Most of our den leaders start out as leader for their son's den. Some stay that way if it works well, others move around as needed. We've had scouts who didn't want to have their parent as a leader, so the parents swapped dens with another leader. I'd prefer to not lead my own boys, so I've taken on other dens, especially Tigers. I think the Tigers really benefit from having an experienced den leader, especially to start, as it helps to orient and retain new parents.

 

There is also a drop of moms as leaders for the webelos years, and also again with the transition to boy scouts.

 

We can be flexible because all of our dens meet on the same night, so for a leader it's a matter of a different book and a move down the hall to another room. I think being flexible also helps us be successful.