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Who’s the leader of the club?

I’m about to date myself. Seriously date myself.

One of my fondest childhood memories was sitting down in front of the Zenith black & white television set in the living room with a glass of milk and a cookie and watching The Mickey Mouse Club. When the theme song would come on, I’d jump up out of my little chair and march around in a circle, just like Mickey Mouse did, and sing along “Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me?” I can still see Jiminy Cricket dealing out the cards that spelled M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E, and Donald Duck trying to steal the limelight. Continue reading “Who’s the leader of the club?”

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Engagement

42115099dmvcjyy_200Many observations from management training can be adapted in several ways so we can use them within Scouting. Perhaps this is why Wood Badge is so successful on both fronts: it’s an excellent training program for Scouters but it also helps us in our work and home lives.

Recently, Dan Rockwell wrote in his blog Leadership Freak about a new book by Bob Hancox and Russell Hunter, Coaching for Engagement, and pointed out ways that managers can become coaches and move from managing the process to managing the people Continue reading “Engagement”

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The waterline test

I came across a really insightful post to the Harvard Business Review faculty blog by Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer called Declaring Independence in the Workplace. The post deals mainly with problems that ensue when upper management micromanages their teams, and how team professionals deserve a “Declaration of Independence” of their own – independence to do their work without undue interference from above.

I began to draw many Scouting allegories from this, going back to the “Green Bar” Bill Hillcourt advice to train ’em, trust ’em and let ’em lead as we must do with our Scouts. However, one of the comments jumped off the page at me, full of meaning for the adult role in Boy Scouting. Continue reading “The waterline test”

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Notes from summer camp

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”

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The captain of the ship

Making my way through fellow Scouters’ blogs, I’ve recently come across some interesting observations about Committee Chairs and their role in a unit.

In some units (Troops and Packs), the Committee Chair is a figurehead position — a name filled in on the roster so that the charter will go through. Leader meetings are conducted by the Scoutmaster or Cubmaster. In other units, the Committee Chair exists only to call the monthly committee meetings and not much else.

But in reality, the Committee Chair’s job is, in many ways, the most important one in a unit. Continue reading “The captain of the ship”