Which Jr. Ldr Position is the Most Important to Train?

[bnelon44]

OK, here is a hypothetical for all of you.

 

Which troop Position of Responsibility is the most important to make sure is fully trained and really is doing a good job? You only get to pick one. Explain why.

[dg98adams]

SPL, ....... the rest are trained under his example. The SPL selects an ASPL that can manage the Troop/Patrol positions.

 

If he(they) are infrequent or poor leaders, the rest of Troop can become aimless.

 

This is where adults step in to help instead of letting the Troop Scouts see they need to correct the issue by

Getting an SPL who is gonna be her nd o the job.

 

[moosetracker]

dg98adams - is one respected theroy.

 

The other is to train the patrol leader, since the patrols if strong and self standing, need very little help from an SPL or ASPL.. In some troops they don't even see the need for an SPL unless you have 4 or more patrols..

 

I have to admit our was more with placing emphisis on the SPL.. But, after reading on these boards, I think the strong patrol might have been the better way to go.(This message has been edited by moosetracker)

[Callooh! Callay!1428010939]

This is a good BOR question for more senior ranks.(This message has been edited by Callooh! Callay!)

[qwazse]

PL, because it's one position that more than one boy holds at a time. Make sure it is fully trained and you'll have as many trained leaders as you have patrols. Fully training another position will only get you one trained leader!

 

Most SPLs come from the ranks of PLs so puttingmyoour resources into training that pool should get you qualified personell for SPL and ASPL.

[Eagledad]

The question is "which One scout has the most impact of positive growth on the whole troop?". My troop had 96 scouts when I retired as SM. Which "one"?

 

Barry

[SeattlePioneer]

Have well trained and experienced Patrol Leaders and you have one of the foundations for a great troop.

[Stosh]

In my troop the highest ranking officer was the PL. He is the heart and soul of the patrol-method, boy-led program.

 

As a matter of fact, all boys should be trained to be PL. Then they will be able best support those in that position.

 

Everyone in the troop "works for" the PL's. Otherwise if the PL's "work for" someone else, obviously they don't have a patrol-method program.

 

Stosh

[qwazse]

The question is "which One scout has the most impact of positive growth on the whole troop?". My troop had 96 scouts when I retired as SM. Which "one"?

 

That's not a question we can answer without reviewing the careers (formal and informal) of all 96 scouts. For all I know, the scout who was 2nd class at 18 and only held APL is responsible for recruiting half your boys and mentoring your most recent PLs! He might have never taught an ILST, but he was always there with fireside advice for any boys who wanted it.

 

I agree with jb, train everyone who will listen to be PL.

[Beavah]

Patrol Leader.

 

All da rest are just administrative support.

 

In small troops, da PL job is typically taken on by a lad with the SPL title, so in that case give da SPL good Patrol Leader training.

 

In a troop with same-age / new scout patrols, da PL job is really taken on by Troop Guides, but again it's da same principle.

 

B

 

[Eagledad]

>>That's not a question we can answer without reviewing the careers (formal and informal) of all 96 scouts. For all I know, the scout who was 2nd class at 18 and only held APL is responsible for recruiting half your boys and mentoring your most recent PLs! He might have never taught an ILST, but he was always there with fireside advice for any boys who wanted it.

[CalicoPenn]

I'm going to suggest the most important POR to train is the one that doesn't count for rank advancement - the Assistant Patrol Leader. If you can manage it, try to train your Assistant Patrol Leaders in the art of being Patrol Leaders so that when they become Patrol Leaders they're already "cooking with gas" rather than floundering for a couple of months as they're being trained (and if they aren't elected, they can still serve a yet to be trained Patrol Leader be helping them get up to speed).

 

A trained Patrol Leader should be able to step into the job of SPL with little additional training needed - The biggest job, in my opinion, of the SPL, is to support and mentor the PL's - if he's already been a PL, he'll understand what PL's need most.

 

With one other exception, the rest of the POR's can be learned on the fly - it really doesn't take long to train a QM, Scribe, Librarian, etc. The other exception? The, in my opinion, second most important position to get trained - the Den Chief. The Den Chief should be the strongest recruiting tools in your Troops quiver. He's got to be trained to be able to switch from being a Boy Scout to being a Cub Scout Leader "on demand" as it were - and to be that example that you want to impress the Cub Scouts and Webelos with so that they want to join Boy Scouts, and to be that example you want to impress Cubmasters and Den Leaders with so that they'll want Den Chiefs from your Troop.

 

PS:

 

"which came first, the chicken or the egg."

 

If you think about it, this is actually a very easy question to answer. The Egg came first. Donosaurs roamed the earth long before Chickens ever did and dinosaurs laid eggs (we won't go into the theories of birds being one of the most closely related descendents of dinosaurs) therefore the egg came long before the chicken.

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello Calico,

 

 

>

 

 

 

I think you nailed it!