Scoutmaster Podcast 69

And now it's the old Scoutmaster. Well, we were out camping this past weekend, had a lovely time, Weather was good. One of the scouts bought a boomerang and He asked me if I knew how to throw one.

And You know, I couldn't remember. But then it came back to me. Hey, this is podcast number 69.

Welcome back to the Scoutmaster podcast. This is Clarke Green. Let's take a look in the mail bag. Here's one from Nick Demos, Scoutmaster, troop 42 in Clifton Park, New York. Nick had this to say: I've been a Scoutmaster for a year and I'm in the middle of the daunting task of changing From being adult lead to being boy lead, using the patrol method. At times It's been very difficult and your podcast has been a wealth of knowledge and help.

Thank you Well. Thanks, Nick. Thanks for the kind words. Nick shared this story in his email. He said a while back you discussed how hard it would be to teach a scout 10 knots in one sitting, Compared to teaching them one knot when they really needed it. This past weekend My troop was moving brushes, part of a service project.

A new scout asked me to help him tie a rope to a piece of Brush so he could drag it instead of having to carry it. I showed him the timber hitch using the edge method and he learned how to tie that knot in minutes. I saw him tie the timber hitch three or four more times for three or four more trips to the brush pile.

Thanks so much for that pearl of wisdom and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to test it and see it work. Keep up the good work. Some days I really need help with all those scouts and Scouters and parents who think that there are better ways to run the troop instead of using the patrol method. Yeah, there might be simpler and more efficient ways to run a troop of Boy Scouts than the patrol method.

But when we try and make things simple and efficient, Well, sometimes we end up with something that's not actually scouting. So keep up the good work, Nick. I'm sure things are going to work out just fine.

Jeff Swartt, who is a committee co-chair of troop 347 in Logan, Ohio, wrote in and said: once again, I want to commend you for your great service to scouting. Your podcast and website are great resources. I recommend your works to all my scouting colleagues. Even my 18 year old ventureer, Who used to be a Boy Scout likes them.

Well, I'm glad to hear that, Jeff. Jeff also gave me some technical information about the mp3 file and The size of the files that I end up publishing is the podcast, and I'm going to do my best to follow Some of your advice there, Jeff. I really appreciate it. I'm not a- I'm Nowhere near being a recording expert or anything like that, and I really appreciate the information that y'all send in.

So if you see a way for the podcast or the website to be improved, Hey, don't hesitate. I can certainly use the help. Mike Manzer wrote in. He's a Scoutmaster from troop 469 in Kate in Georgia and he had this to say about our last podcast: Wow, what incredible timing. The interview with Alec Kossoff could not have come at a more appropriate time. Our troop is planning for an 80 mile backpacking trip that covers the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail at The end of this month.

Your interview with Alex really served to reinforce the importance of advanced planning, and I especially enjoyed the discussion about how teens deal with stress and challenge. I've never really given this much thought until the opportunity pops up, which they always do. The most important part of the discussion for me was setting expectations for emotional issues before they ever happen. Thanks for the great work and, with the podcast, keep them coming Well. Thank you, Mike. I certainly appreciate the kind words once again.

And if you haven't listened to podcast number 68- That was an interview with Alex Kossoff, who is the author of the Appalachian Mountain Club guide to outdoor leadership, you can find a review of that book on the blog at Scoutmastercgcom. And if you're planning one of these outdoor adventures- or, hey, you know, just weekend camping trips and things like that, There's a lot of very useful information in the guide to outdoor leadership.

So this time around We're going to answer an email question and then I have a little bit of a story to tell. That's right Now. Some of the story is ideas from my personal experience- Personal experience with some of my friends and colleagues in scouting, Some of the things that I've heard and seen- a little poetic license, But I got to thinking about a few things over the past several weeks and I wrote them down in a story form.

I hope you enjoy them, and that sounds like enough for any podcast, doesn't it? Well, let's get started. Shall we

Email, that is, folks- and here's an answer to one of your emails. Listener who wish to stay anonymous writes in to say I love your podcast and I have for a long time. I have a question. I'd appreciate your insight because you're really dialed in and you call them as you see them. I've recently been nominated to serve as our district commissioner.

Not having filled this role Before, I'm anxious to do a good job- Have you any advice for me, anything I should focus on from your perspective? What makes a good district commissioner?

Well, I got to tell you I've never served as a unit commissioner. I've never served as a district commissioner. I've worked with plenty of them and I've served as a camp commissioner for two or three years.

So my advice is kind of rough and ready: shoot from the hip on the district commissioner job, And I think it would apply in a lot of ways to many district level jobs, And I have hold held a couple of those over time. Number one: Demystify everything that you do. Really few unit level volunteers know what a commissioner is or what they do and, in my opinion, We seriously need to look into changing the name commissioner.

What is a commissioner? I don't know.

I mean, when we encounter somebody with a title commissioner, it intends some things of official dumb and judgment and It sounds kind of police like, and I don't know whether I care for the. So I would tell everybody that maybe your mission is to cooperate With them to deliver the scouting program. Your mission is to co-operate, co-missioner.

I mean, maybe, maybe that would help and maybe that would make everybody a bit more comfortable, And then give them three bullet points about what you do that is relevant to their position as a volunteer. Number two: I would be incredibly useful. That's what I would suggest.

What do I mean? Well, maybe you can tote around the current copies of all the forms that are most commonly needed by people in volunteer positions and And a big list of resources that people can find online. And I would have as many answers at my fingertips as I possibly could.

If you can convince the folks at your council scout shop to give you a few copies of common reference books, You know, like the Scoutmaster handbook, the troop committee guide, the guide to safe, scouting cub program books, the advancement Guide, the guide to safe, that you can throw in the trunk of your car and have instantly ready for sale when you visit your units. That might be a big help to if you can carry a collection of position related patches, So much the better. Be incredibly helpful, be somebody that when they, when you walk through the door at a unit meeting, They're very, very happy to see you and they know they're going to get their questions answered And they know that you're going to have the resources to help them out.

Now, number three: I would clear out the deadwood, and I forgive me if that term sounds a little harsh, But I would go to a district meeting and I would say, as of this year, We have a three-year term limit on commissioners in our district and those who have served for three or more years Presently will have a date that will set next year to find and train their replacement. Now, why am I saying this?

While I learned this from somebody who I know, who started out as a unit leader and then became a Leader in his district and then a leader in our council and then moved on to regional and national jobs and has been lauded and awarded for all of them, and His philosophy is very simple. His rule of thumb is very simple: the first year You're in the position, You're learning how to do the position. The second year, you're being as useful as you possibly can in that position. In the third year you are naming and training your successor and This really does keep things rolling. It keeps new talent, new ideas and new people in in the process. My experience with commissioners is they usually sign on in groups, especially in a district.

That group hangs out for four or five years and then they're all done and then the district kind of did. There's around for a year or two trying to locate the next group and you know the the one or two guys that hang on and End up being commissioners for a decade Maybe really never should have been commissioners in the first place. It's just been my experience. We're much more likely to be successful in recruiting commissioners If their career is mapped out as a three-year commitment. Naturally we'll come up with a brief and meaningful Investiture and retirement ceremony for round tables and we'll just keep things rolling.

We'll keep, like I said, the number of people and ideas turning over so that the job has always looked at. A Fresh. Number four is: I'd have short, targeted and useful meetings every other month.

Now I know districts are in the habit of meeting once a month. I know that commissioners are in the habit of meeting once a month. But I have to question whether once a month is too frequent for there to be actual, Actually any value to the meeting. Every other month There's going to be plenty of new things to look at.

I would limit that meeting to one hour, and I really mean one hour- with a set agenda and Everybody with a very solid expectation of how much time they're going to have to talk at the meeting, And then we turn off the lights and lock the doors. If everybody wants to stand outside in the parking lot for another hour or two, That's fine, But one hour at the meeting table and that's it, and that will respect people's time, keep them action oriented, and I think it can also solve an awful lot of difficulties that arise in districts. Number five: I would track unit visits and Reviews pretty religiously.

I would want a minimum of a once a quarter visit from commissioners with their units, So that would be four visits a year. I know a lot of commissioners can manage more than that, But at least one of those visits would be to a unit meeting. One would be to the unit committee meeting, One to the patrol leaders council meeting in the case of troops, or to the officers meeting in the case of crews, Or to a couple of random den meetings, in the case of packs. The fourth visit would be a visit to a unit event that was held outside the meeting place, Maybe in a cub pack.

It's a tour or a visit of some kind And, you know, in a cub, in a scout troop or a venture crew. It might be a camp out, But I would want to see the unit function in many different ways.

And then every visit gets a report. One side of the report is the roses side and that means What's going well- Congratulations, atta boys, things you've seen that are very positive, whatever.

And the other side of that report is thorns, What the unit needs to work on, either things they have asked for or things that you've observed, and the rule of thumb You know, maybe five roses to two thorns. In other words, We're really emphasizing the positive things that units are doing.

Now the roses side of the page goes on the district website and it gets emailed to unit leaders and To the officers of the sponsoring institution. Did you hear that to the officers of the sponsoring institution?

They very rarely hear anything about what the unit is doing and Pasted telephone polls, whatever we can do to sing the phrases of any volunteer. The thorns side is turned into action items for immediate attention and only sees the light of day between The commissioners in the district. The thorns all die in 60 days. They've been addressed and resolved and Roses are everlasting. We're always repeating the praises of those volunteers. Number six: I would take the pledge.

Here's the pledge: as a commissioner, I will never, ever, ever, on pain of dismissal, do any of the following: a Point out, an incorrect badge placement to everyone. Ever at all. I Will not speak of uniforming or the placement of badges or g-jaws or metals or ribbons on the uniform, Unless answering a direct question from someone. B. I will never, ever discuss any units, difficulties or shortcomings with any other volunteer or parent in another unit, anyone at all outside of the district commissioner meeting and Especially if their spouse- if the commissioner spouse- is a volunteer. That is especially important.

See, I will never, ever deliver any messages in a form for anyone other than informational announcements from the district or the council. I'm not going to deliver messages between volunteers, between parents and volunteers, between professionals and volunteers, district staff and volunteers.

When requested to do so, I can respond with the contact information For whom the message is intended, and this especially applies to forwarding emails. D- I will never, ever Instruct a volunteer and or a scout in how to do something, from tying a knot to running a meeting, unless I am asked and Only after the questioner has gone to considerable trouble to drag it out of me. E- I will never, ever complain about procedure, district or professional staff, volunteers, scouts or the general state of affairs in the community, nation or world, and will never tell anyone how things were Different and better when I was a scout, master, cup master scout or a youngster. F- I will never, ever be anything less than non-sectarian in matters of politics, custom and religion while serving in my capacity as a commissioner.

Now, That's a very targeted pledge and it would remove 80% of the content of Commissioner speech and visits and actions that cause problems rather than solve them. So that is my, like I said, kind of shoot from the hip stab at what would make a good unit commissioner And what would make a good district commissioner.

My experience in the field is limited, your mileage may vary And I would love to hear your ideas so you could contact me at scoutmastercg at Verizonnet.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have done things differently. Now how many times have you caught yourself saying that? It's never the case, but It's a pretty common thought, Especially when you hit one of those big birthdays where you get the funny birthday cards about how old you are, and It can set you back on your heels a bit And it could also get you to remembering.

Now You know, we tell our scouts that that thing about scouting being a trail with landmarks along the way, and You know, I think sometimes we may miss the idea that it's a trail for us too, That we're learning and growing right beside them And, more importantly, we're getting a look at something that a lot of parents don't get to see. We're getting an uncommonly close look at the way that they're growing and maturing as we go through scouts together.

Now I went looking for something the other day and, Other than thinking that we really needed to clean out a lot of stuff out of the house, I knew that if I looked hard enough I would find it, And here it is. This is the uniform shirt that he wore when he was in Cub Scouts. When he turned six he was off to the first grade and he said his new friends were going to be in something called tiger cubs.

Now that sounded like fun. I had a vague Remembrance of being in Cub Scouts when I was a boy.

I remember having fun, But I didn't remember that there was anything called tiger cubs. I guess it was something new and I do remember hoping that they still did those pinewood car things, you know.

So we ended up at a meeting and they really needed people to help out. Of course I raised my hand Without having any idea what I was getting myself into, and their eyes really lit up When they heard that I was in scouts when I was a kid.

Of course it turned out we weren't just helping, we were running the whole show. Eight, six year olds in your basement is a pretty intense experience. I mean, you can give them a soda straw and some scotch tape and a paperclip and they'll amuse themselves for hours.

But you know, I did read the book and I did some searching and I took a couple of training sessions and that helped a lot. And That tiger cub year seemed to go by pretty quickly and I was kind of disappointed when it was over.

So the next year, when it was time for him to be a wolf, I kept up with him. It was a little tiring, a little challenging but it was fun, and Especially the big meetings with the other boys, the pack meetings. Good Lord, what a zoo. I mean our pack was pretty big at that time.

So you'd have 40 or 50 scouts running around and any number of little sisters and brothers and moms and dads and aunts and uncles and sometimes grandparents. They're never really quiet for more than a few minutes out of an hour's meeting and I suppose we'd worry if they were really quiet. You would not believe how hard these little guys will work for a belt loop or a patch.

You know they didn't have the belt loops when I was a kid But I do like the ideas of the boys learning and experiencing all these things. Of course The boys mostly like the idea that they get a belt loop or a patch. I Guess bears was next.

Is that right? He was really looking forward to this because he was gonna get to go camping that summer. This I had to see.

So of course I went along and It was years Since the last time I went camping. Turns out there were a lot of things I had forgotten about. I didn't suffer too much and He, he didn't suffer at all. He was in 7th Avenue.

One thing I do remember really distinctly was the last night of that giant three-day expedition that we took- Was that he stood around the campfire with his pals and there was a look in his eyes I'll never forget. He was happy, He was confident and he'd found something that he really loved to do.

Two years of weevil-o's followed along and there was more camping. We got out three or four times and each time I remembered a few more things and I got a little better at it. He really enjoyed being the older, experienced scout whenever the younger boys were around. By this time he had a shirt full of patches and enough pins and belt loops to sink a ship, And we got to go camping with what he called the real scouts.

These are the guys in high school and they look so much older than he does. They're so much bigger, but he already knew what all their badges stood for and Exactly how he was going to earn each and every one of them.

I Gotta tell you I remember thinking at the time that people who complained about teenagers submeet a couple of these older scouts. I watched how they treated him and how they taught him how to do things, how painfully polite they were to me. I mean, don't get me wrong, They knew how to act, their age. But in a word, I was impressed When it came time to move on from Cub scouts. There were some. There were actually some sad moments.

My boy was getting older, He was growing up. It had happened pretty fast and I was glad that I had actually been there to see it. I Moved up right along with him.

When he joined the scout troop I Remember asking the Scoutmaster what I needed to bring on our first camping trip and he told me to bring a comfortable chair. We drove to the campsite And I was ready to help the boys set things up, But the older scout looking after them politely assured me that they could handle it. I Felt a little older at that very moment And I also found out why I was told to bring a comfortable chair. Those scouts, They did everything for themselves.

Every so often they asked for help, but for the most part we just sat there and watched. And You know I can remember thinking that after all those years in Cub scouts and having to be on my feet and run things, That it was kind of a welcome change. Of course. He took to it like a fish to water. He was off and running in no time And I don't think you ever look back. We got to go backpacking that fall and, Yeah, I remembered that I was impressed with the idea that I needed to get up and move around a little bit more than I had Before long.

He was a pretty experienced camper and He was also strangely, Miraculously and in an impossibly short amount of time, about a foot taller. One night, as we drove home from scouts, He told me that he had been elected patrol leader.

Now I had already knew this, but I didn't want to spoil his fun And he was excited and proud and frankly, he was a little bit scared. But he did a wonderful job.

We were out camping once a month, And sometimes not once a month, but because it was a challenge, We had a schedule, We had things to do. Things got a little less stressful, though, when we had the tent set up. It was a year or two There when I was not real high on his list. People tell you this is going to happen, and I don't think anybody's really ready for it one day. He's a cute little kid who hangs on your every word in the next day. He's this big, lanky kind of man child who seems to be painfully embarrassed that you even exist.

I I'm pretty sure if we didn't go to scouts once a week and go out camping, I don't know that we would have talked very much or spent much time together during that couple years. We weathered the storm and we moved on. He was old enough to sign up for a week long canoe trip that summer.

I asked him how you know if he minded if I went along, and he kind of looked at me funny and he said: why wouldn't you? And It was faint praise, but those days I took what I could get.

So we got to do two of those trips together and I got to tell you I will remember them for the rest of my life. I was proud of him. He took on a few different leadership positions and he ended up the top, his senior patrol leader.

One night the Webelos came to visit and I saw a younger boy look at him in the same way He had looked at the older scouts five or six years ago and I thought: you know, it's impossible that it's five or six years already. How could it be Now? Like a lot of guys, he kept us guessing those last couple years. He was in scouts But he finally finished all the work he needed to become an Eagle Scout.

We were relieved and happy and proud and we had that big special ceremony And his mother got a little teary-eyed. I supposed I might have to.

Well, that was actually all quite a few years ago now, And the reason I wanted to tell you about it is his boy came home the other day from school Talking a blue streak about something called tiger cars. I decided I might try and find his dad's little cub scout shirt just to see if it'll fit him.