Really Boy Led?

[Mike F]

fastbow,

 

When a SM has been in the job awhile, they can get kinda set in their ways. I couldn't wait for my oldest son to join Boy Scouts - then quickly became disillusioned, because the reality I saw didn't match my old memories. Then I became frustrated when SM didn't jump on my recommendations.

 

During the years that followed, I slowly learned two things:

1. The SM's job is an awesome responsibility and all are volunteers with limited time and capability. The hands-down best way to gain influence is to get in the game - to be an active supporter of the troop program, to find ways to help the SM with his burden, etc..

2. My golden, idealistic memories were faulty. Recent conversations with a couple of my childhood scoutmasters confirm we were a rag-tag bunch and everything wasn't as perfect as my memories. (In fact, this line of discussion resulted in some hearty belly-laughs.)

 

You already said you're a hands-on guy, so #1 will be easy for you. You're going to have to trust me on #2. In the meantime, please at least consider it as a possibility when something seems "wrong" based on your personal scouting memories.

 

You have signed up with TC - that's a great start! Based on your apparent interests in how the program is running, I would guess you would prefer to be an Assistant Scoutmaster. In the troop which I now serve as SM, almost all of our new parents are first asked to join the TC to give us a chance to get to know them, to give them time to adapt from Cubs/Webs to Boy Scouting, and to see which ones have the real interest/aptitude for me to trust to take my place when I'm not there.

 

I encourage you to get as much training as you can. You'll find a lot of value in studying the Boy Scout handbook, the handbooks for the Troop Comm & SM and maybe the SPL & PL positions. If you can get a copy of the handouts from the "leadership camp" you mentioned, that would be valuable information, because your SM obviously puts great stock in this program. In this process, you'll become completely fluent in BSA's latest information. After you've done your homework, pick the top 1-3 things you think are the highest priority for getting changed. As problems come up related to these things, you'll find an opportunity to make a quiet recommendation along the lines of "You know, maybe if we tried this xxxxx, we could turn the boys around in this area."

 

In the troop I serve, I recognized some deficiencies in the scout leadership model as a whole. As specific problems came up, in discussions afterward with SM and small group of active insiders, I quietly made the point that many could be traced back to leaders not knowing and doing their jobs. After a while, I convinced the SM we would benefit from having our own in-house troop junior leader training to get everyone on the same page and I volunteered to help him by pulling it all together. He enthusiastically agreed. I started with current BSA T-JLT materials and drew upon lots of other sources (primarily Venture Crew Leader training manual, NYLT, National Outdoor Leadership School Leadership Educator Notebook, outlines from other troops leaders after discussions at SM Roundtable discussions, and my old notes from teaching Council JLT many years ago).

 

The SM loved it, added his own tweaks, and we embarked on a total revamp of our leadership development program. We now conduct a 24-hr Troop JLT session (Fri night Sat night) every 6 months with the incoming leadership team. The first year was mostly about getting everyone to buy in to the common vision and developing troop-level goals. With those now firmly in place as part of their culture, we spend less time on those and more on specific leadership development as well as training for specific jobs. The turn-around has been fantastic!

 

In short, hang in there, keep it positive and youll find ways to help things improve!

 

-mike

(This message has been edited by Mike F)

[scoutingagain]

Fastbow,

 

I agree with everything Mike said. Get trained. As long as the SM is beating the "Boy led" troop thing, that's good. What the goal is for adults is to influence the boys to do the right thing, without doing it for them. If you see too much kaos at the troop meetings, ask the committee something like "How can we get the boys to..improve their skills, run better meetings, cook better meals..?", make suggestions. Do what you can to help improve the boy leadership, don't usurp their position.

 

Adults should not be taking over a scout meeting because it's disorganized any more than an adult would go in to pitch in a Little League game because they could pitch better than an 11 year old. Running the meetings IS part of the scouting game. To a certain extent a boy led meeting is not going to be as well run as a good adult run meeting(although I've seen plenty of adults run poor meetings) any more than you can expect an 11 year old to throw an 80 - 90 mph fastball. But you can coach them on fundamentals, like having an agenda, accomplishing action items, minimize distractions, etc.

 

SA

[backpack]

I've just joined the Troop with my son, who just crossed over. Having been a scout in this troop about 20 years ago, I see a lot of disorganization. I'm also seeing a lack of both adult and scout leadership. There are about 3 scouts at star or above, but are about 17. Then there are 7 1 year scouts, and 7 brand new scouts. With the older boys not really participating to pass off their leadership skills, and the adult leaders not helping to train new leaders, I'm not seeing the scout led philosophy take off. The 1 year scouts are running the show, but without much success. Any suggestions on helping get this troop back in line?

 

Thanks,

[Stosh]

Are you ready to take the reins? The leadership that is there now might be willing to hand it over to you. At least you can actually see what's going on and may have a better chance of fixing things.

 

Stosh

[backpack]

I would love to take over, unfortunately, I'm also involved heavily in the pack, since I still have two boys there, and am a den leader and Committee Chair, webmaster, pack trainer, etc. I have about two years until my middle son moves on, before I can assume any further responsibility. My only option at this point is to give suggestions, and attend as many events as possible. There's a goup of cub leaders that moved up also, that are good people, but followers, that I know will step up, should I take over. I'm hoping they are there when I'm able.