Trevorum Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 This last weekend I held an Eagle SM conference with a fine young man. This fellow had been active with the troop for six years, including nearly four as a Life Scout. He had completed all of the requirements for Eagle including (finally!) the service project. What was remarkable in one respect about him was his lack of leadership, or more precisely, his self-admitted lack of interest in being a leader. His Positions of Responsibility for Star, Life and Eagle were all Den Chief (at which he did an excellent job), but he was never a Patrol Leader or any other troop officer. In fact he had turned down several opportunities for troop leadership. Knowing that leadership development is one of the BSA methods, I talked with him about that. He's always been a quiet, shy fellow. He told me that he absolutely hates public speaking or being the center of attention and that's why he doesn't think he's a leader. He's never been a team captain or a club officer at school or church. We then talked about his Eagle service project. He did an excellent job of behind-the-scenes planning, implementing the plan, and then documenting the results. During the "work day", I noticed that all the scouts very carefully listened to his quiet mumblings about what needed to be done and they then organized themselves and got the job done. Several of his volunteers, more vocal than he himself became self-appointed "lieutenants". Meanwhile, he quietly resolved several major unanticipated problems with the project design so that most of the volunteers never even knew there were any changes at all. To my eye, it was a great example of team building. At 17 years old he may not yet think of himself as a leader, but I know better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleInKY Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Trevor - I had a similar experience in an Eagle BOR a while back. The fellow had held none of the true leadership positions as you spoke of, but had been Scribe, Instructor, Librarian, Webmaster, etc. He talked in terms of leading by example, mentoring younger kids one-on-one and leading by serving (great example of "servant leadership"). Interestingly, this guy had started his own computer business around the age of 13 or 14, and was very much a go-getter on things. He just had no desire to be the focal point of the troop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenk Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Very interesting ... I have often thought that teaching is a great - and sometimes subtle - way to gain leadership experience. By this point in his Scouting career I'm sure he has lots of knowledge to teach the younger boys. By the very nature of teaching, those taught look to the instructor as a leader. Has this boy spent time with younger Scouts teaching them some of the Scout through First Class skills? I would have hoped so. Ken K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueM Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 I'd like to congratulate you for your patient insight where this young man is concerned! Sometimes we adults...as well as the boys...fail to recognize the various styles that leadership takes along the way. Young people especially I think only see leadership as someone yelling out orders..the "Big Boss" way..continue to encourage him!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndaigler Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Great stories!!!! Terrific reminder that leadership and authority are not inherently inclusive of each other. Both these boys seem to be (future) teachers (there're many types - don't just think school). Having taught for a dozen years, I have great respect for those who understand that the "torch of learning" is really more of a spark!!! To see them get it at a young age is exciting!!! jd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eamonn Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 I can only echo what jd posted. Thanks for reminding me that we have many different sorts of Lads and many different ways of leading. I sometimes forget. Eamonn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdutch Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Great Story! My thought as I was reading it was what happens at the BoR. My guess is that most of the board members will not know all the details of his experiences that you have seen, and from your explination, he might not have realized this yet himself. Any thoughts on if he will have problems passing a Board of Review for a lack of leadership? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmickle1027 Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 NOT A LEADER? DEN CHIEF IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN THE TROOP!!!!!! INSPIRING CUB SCOUTS AND WEBELOS, MAKING SURE THAT HE IS A POSITIVE IMAGE AND WORKIG WITH THE ADULTS OF THE PACK ONLY TENDS TO CEMENT A PACK TO A TROOP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutingagain Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Sounds like our CEO. SA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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