Information, Observation, and Inspiration for Scouters
Each year, summer camp brings with it new scouts, new challenges, and new things to remember. This year was no exception. You would think that after going to summer camp for many years, we’d have everything all figured out, but there’s always a way to improve.
So, without further ado (whatever ado is), here’s my short list of things to add to our list for next year, based on our camp experience last week: Continue reading “Notes from summer camp”
I frequently sit on rank advancement boards of review in our troop. Because it’s so important to me, I usually ask the scouts we interview about leadership in one aspect or another. I ask whether the scout holds a position of responsibility in the troop, how he’s handling it and if he’s  had any problems. I also ask him what he thinks “being a leader” means. While occasionally we’ll hear an answer that really impresses me – the “right” answer: a leader serves others – usually what we hear is “a leader gets to boss people around” or something similar. I’ll also ask if he views himself differently since he’s held a position, and in what way. Continue reading “Leader: a title or an attitude?”
Recently our troop took part in a joint landscaping project with the other troop in town. Most of us adults are acquainted with at least one or two families in the other troop because of our Cub Scout connections, but many of the boys either don’t know each other or know one or two through other connections such as school or church. Though we participate with them in service projects once a year or so, we don’t do joint events like campouts or high adventure, so they aren’t familiar in the context of Scouting. A few of our boys even look at the other troop as the “enemy,” as they have seen their friends from Cub Scouts join their troop instead of ours, and continue to attract boys that they feel should be joining us instead. Continue reading “Helpful and friendly”
A recent article by reinvention guru Jim Mathis got me to thinking about how often we sabotage ourselves and those we lead by a tendency to be a control freak.
In the final part of this series, we’ll look at ways to recruit new committee members, and keep them, as well as your current members, active.
Continue reading “Recruiting committee members and getting them active”