Information, Observation, and Inspiration for Scouters
As adults, we sometimes feel the need to improve the flow in our troops. When this happens, it’s all too easy to tell our Scouts what to do. Have you ever directed the setup of a weekend campout, or stepped in to “help” the boys run their troop meeting?
Should we be doing these things? Continue reading “Stop telling and start guiding”
Last week I attended an orientation session at the university my son is attending in the fall. There were separate sessions for the new students and for the soon-to-be parents of a college kid. Besides the expected talks on dorm life, financial aid and how to pay the bill, several university staffers presented segments on various aspects of adjusting to college life.
One of the most interesting talks was on the topic of student well-being. Going beyond adjusting to a roommate and using the health center and recreation facilities, the speaker enlightened us on the steps of identity development that our students would most likely go through during their years in college. Continue reading “How Scouting helps identity development”
When did you become a leader?
Was it when someone anointed you the head of something and you took charge? Did you volunteer for a job in your unit? Did everyone else take a step backward when Sarge called for “volunteers” to step forward?
Those are ways to take on a leadership role, but there are others that don’t even involve having “leader” in the title! Continue reading “Start leading before you become a leader!”
As the Christian world approaches Easter, the scriptures that are read center more and more on Jesus in his final days, as he traveled and taught, working closely with his disciples and followers. A favorite reading at this time of year is the story, written by John the Apostle in his gospel, about Jesus washing the feet of the disciples gathered for the passover meal. (In those days, most travel was on foot, and the roads were dusty, meaning that a day’s labors or journey left one’s feet filthy dirty. Those who were better off had servants to give the evening foot baths.) When one, Simon Peter, protests, Jesus explains that Peter and the others don’t understand why he, the teacher and lord, is doing the work ordinarily done by servants, but soon it becomes clear:
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Thus we are introduced to one of the earliest recorded examples of servant leadership. Continue reading “Servant leadership: Not a new concept”
Did you know much about leadership before becoming a Scout leader?
Perhaps you did, if you were a Scout as a youth, or you were a class officer, team captain, or president of your JA company. In the work world, you may have picked up leadership skills through job responsibilities or possibly even formal training. And certainly, the military develops leaders.
For many people, though, taking on a leadership role in a Scout unit is our first exposure to leadership. Continue reading “Volunteering improves leadership”