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The changing journey

JTE2012-GoldBy now, hopefully you’ve had a chance to complete your troop’s annual Journey to Excellence scorecard and turn it in to your district professional. Generally, these are due by December 31st, in order to qualify for the award and help your district and council qualify for theirs. (The district and council JTE awards depend in part on units turning in their scorecards.)

When Journey to Excellence was developed by a team of experienced Scouters and national council staff, it was intended to be a flexible system, in order to reflect current BSA initiatives and to be a better predictor of the quality of a unit’s performance and program. Continue reading “The changing journey”

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Don’t do it halfway!

denleaderhalfCommitting to become a den leader (or other adult leader in Scouting) means not doing it halfway, otherwise the boys don’t benefit as much, and the adults don’t have as much fun either.

Sure, accepting a leadership role is a big step, but it’s not usually something you can do just a little bit. It’s normally a one-year commitment (unless something unforeseen comes up, like moving out of town or changing jobs) and there are specific responsibilities of leaders in various positions. Sometimes, these can be shared with others, but it rests on you to ensure that they are taken care of.

The good thing is that once you get going in your position, you’ll establish a rhythm and things will fall into place, so you don’t have to keep figuring out how to do new things. Continue reading “Don’t do it halfway!”

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10 signs you enjoy being a Scouter

As another year winds down and we look forward to another (assuming the Mayan calendar or a zombie attack doesn’t do us all in), we often take a moment to reflect on how things are going. Much of our thinking goes into evaluating what we’ve done and how we can do better going forward. After reading a post in Recognize This!, a blog written by employee recognition and reward consultant Derek Irvine, I got to thinking about my own experiences in Scouting and why I keep doing it. Continue reading “10 signs you enjoy being a Scouter”

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Final thoughts on improving leadership skills

Here are a few final thoughts to conclude our series on leadership for the committee chairman.

Don’t help

Yes, that’s right. Don’t help!

Just as we don’t “help” the boys at troop meetings and campouts, we develop leadership in adults the same way – by staying out of their way. You selected and approved your committee members for a reason – because they are talented and able to help with committee functions. Let them work things out their way! Who knows? Their way may well produce better results than if they followed your direction.

Develop a resistance to jumping in and fixing things that don’t need fixing, or that are best fixed by others. Continue reading “Final thoughts on improving leadership skills”