Scoutmaster Podcast 93

And now to you, Scoutmaster. So here we are, We're out in the woods, We're getting ready to take a hike. And I talked to the senior patrol leader.

I say, Listen, have you reviewed hike safety and everything with everybody? Yes, Yes, sir, I have.

He says: Have you talked about the buddy? Yes, We've talked about the buddy system.

I said: What are you going to do if you discover one of the boys has gotten separated from the group? And he said: Well, you know, we will stop and we'll retrace our stops, We'll kind of fan out, We'll be able to find them.

So what are you going to do if one of the adults gets separated from the group? He says: Well, that really depends on who it is. Smart boy, that senior patrol leader. This is podcast number 93.

Well, welcome back to the Scoutmaster podcast. This is Clarke Green. Let's take a look and see who's been in touch over the past week. We heard from Mike Manzer via Facebook. He said I enjoyed the panel discussion in podcast number 92. And I hope that you do it often.

The discussion about the new leader training modules was especially timely. I've used the others that were discussed and found that each one needed some improvement. I look forward to reading through the new youth leadership training module and hopefully adopting it with success. Mike, I'm glad you enjoyed the discussion. I'm glad it was useful and timely.

One of the things we did discuss was a new troop leadership training syllabus that the BSA has recently published. We are going to have Scoutmaster panel discussions on a regular basis- I would say about once a month- on the podcast here And you can participate in those by getting in touch and sending me a question or a comment or a topic suggestion And your question may be selected to participate during the recording of that podcast via telephone. We'll call you up and you can ask your question and you can have a little exchange with the Scoutmaster panel.

We did that last time and I think we found that pretty useful and we really enjoyed doing it again. So you can be in touch by emailing me at scoutmastercg at Verizonnet and you can also get in touch through the contact form at scoutmastercgcom. I also heard from my friend Scout of Richard up in Canada. Richard and I exchanged some ideas and some advice via email back in the spring about moving his troop towards more youth leadership. He sent me a progress report last week. He said shortly after the discussion we had.

I took the advice you provided me back to my fellow adult leaders and we laid out an approach I thought we should take. It was generally well received by them, although I do recall there were a few moments of convincing and explanation, But in the end we all got on the same page.

Then we took these things and shared them with our youth leaders And then, if we fast forward a few months, all the adults have attempted to be as consistent as possible with support and advice when we are asked by the youth. And although we're moving a little bit slowly with plans- and that might be an adult perspective, I agree, Richard- Most of the time it's an adult perspective. Scouts tend to move a little slowly with planning. I do think that it is gradually moving forward towards the youth leadership goal we laid out in the spring. There doesn't seem to be any real shortcuts here at all. It just has to happen when it happens.

Your continued support and advice is always appreciated And I sincerely thank you for your wealth of resources through the blog and the podcast. Well, Richard, I'm really happy to hear from you.

I'm glad that the advice that we shared with you back in the spring is now bearing some fruit, And your email reminds me that scouting is really a process. It's a process where we're always traveling, We're always moving forward, but we're never really reaching a goal.

It's a landmark that we're going to get to and we're going to say, okay, hey, we're done, We've accomplished everything that we needed to accomplish. Nope, because scouts are different, The way that they look at the world is different, but the scouting program and the genius behind it meets them where they are and lets them learn skills to become good, productive, happy people and to contribute to their communities and the world. And we're going to talk a little bit more about that

In Scoutmaster Ship in seven minutes or less. And then we do have an email question to answer and that'll take care of this week's podcast.

So let's get started, shall we? In seven minutes or less.

You know, one of my all-time favorite scouts online is Andy over at Ask Andy, And if you haven't visited there, you go to the United States Scouting Service Project website, which, if you're listening to this, you've probably already been there. So go over and look at Ask Andy on that website. It's a kind of an advice column for scouts and it is just great.

And I saw something in answer to a question in his latest column and here's an excerpt from it. I wanted to include it here because I think this has said something that I kind of try and say all the time, but Andy has said it so well. I don't really think I can improve on it As this: our charge as volunteers in the movement is to help create tomorrow's productive, responsible, happy citizens.

We can't do that if we don't keep our doors in our arms open to these young men, understanding that the ultimate volunteer isn't us, it's the scout himself. If he gets sick and tired of our nagging him instead of positive reinforcement of good habits, or dinging him when it comes to rank advancement, even when he's proven he can knock off the skill set required without breaking his sweat, then he's going to walk, And that's the very last thing we want to have happen, because then we can no longer instill in him the ideals and values of the movement. Yes, we're a movement and not an activity.

So here's my single guideline: Look only at the individual scout, See only the individual, Understand only the individual, Each, one by one and one at a time. Each and every young man who crosses the doorstep of scouting is unique and he lives in a world and an environment unique to him and him alone. There is no other like him in the world than we dare not apply an arbitrary measure in this one particular dimension that we call active.

Now, obviously, Andy was answering a very specific question about, you know, this age-old question of how do we determine if a scout is active or not. But I think in that statement he has encapsulated the most productive, the happiest and the most stress-free approach to scouting, And that is that scouting is a highly individualized thing And as scout leaders it is our job to make sure that the scouting program affects that individual scout And that's it. That is it. Everything else is for the birds. One of the fellows who runs the US Scouting Service project. He says if it's not for the boys, it's for the birds, And I absolutely agree.

When we're focused on the individual needs of each individual scout, everything begins to fall into place. If you want to back that up even more, go over to PTC Media and listen to the last SMM podcast by Scoutmaster Jerry, in which he recorded a session. He did a training session, he did about Scoutmaster Conferences, And Jerry talks about understanding the needs the personality and the way that scouting impacts an individual scout, And he does it very, very well. I encourage you to go over and listen to that. I can't present a program that impacts an individual scout, wherever he is, however he comes to us, whatever his environment is, whatever he has to deal with outside of scouting, then we're failing what I consider to be the most central object of our work as scout leaders. If you're looking for the unified theory of scouting, that's got to be it And I really appreciate it.

I appreciate Andy writing as he does and that particular statement that I just read, And I appreciate Scoutmaster Jerry over at the SMM podcast putting that so clearly in the recent podcast he did about Scoutmaster Conferences. I encourage you to look at both of them and I sincerely hope that it all helps you refocus your efforts on those individual scouts. Hi, this is Dr Paul Auerbach and you are listening to Clarke Green on the Scoutmaster podcast. Find me a letter, send it by name Email. That is folks.

And here's an answer to one of your emails. Well, I got this question from Mike Beck, who is a Scoutmaster from Troop 61 in Brandon, Florida. I have a scout who is not on the Patrol Leaders Council but he's interested in performing a leadership project in order to make Star. Mike's referring to a common statement that you'll find in the Star or Life rank requirements that talks about a Scoutmaster assigned leadership project to help the troop.

Mike goes on to say: do you have any suggestions? Whatever it is, I'd like it to be at least two things.

I'd like it to require regular activity, so it's something that wouldn't be just completed in two weeks around a single camp out, and that it would cause the scout to consciously think about serving the needs of others in his troop. So I got back in touch with Mike and I would start the process of identifying what that Scoutmaster assigned leadership project is going to look like by sitting down with a scout and asking him what ideas he has.

You know how about the Senior Patrol Leader? Is the Senior Patrol Leader need somebody to do a specific thing, Not necessarily just like a limited task, but does he need somebody to occupy a role or a function for a period of time that's going to help him with his job in the troop?

Scoutmaster assigned leadership projects are very loosely defined, and necessarily so, because what it does is it gives you the opportunity as a Scoutmaster and the scout the opportunity as a leader to find different ways- that might be slightly outside the definitions of positions of responsibility in scouting- to help his fellow Scouts. I don't think that this has to be one thing. It could be several things. What's important is that you and the Scout agree on a set of expectations.

I have a Scout right now who was a Patrol Leader. He's a Star Scout. Most of the positions of responsibility within the Patrol Leaders Council that aren't directly patrol related are occupied.

I have an instructor, We have a Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Scribe and Quartermaster. This Scout came to me and said: what leadership position can I have?

He and I talked for a while and I described what in basketball I think is called a Pivot Man. I'm not a big basketball expert, but I used it just to illustrate.

You know, a Pivot Man in basketball is somebody who can play just about any position, can get in there and help the team out whenever he's needed. I said: you know, you can be our Pivot Man in the troop.

There'll be plenty of opportunities for you to step in and to help out in a leadership capacity with many different things And you and I'll just keep an eye on it And our expectations will be that when we're ready to evaluate how well you have done that, we will have had an ongoing discussion about the different tasks that you've undertaken. So you need to be conscious whenever you do something to help the troop out. Just kind of keep it in mind. You might even write it down. It's a scout-master conference. That's what we'll be talking about And I'm going to have an ongoing dialogue with this scout about how he's doing and how he's taking advantage of things.

You know there'll be a time when the quartermaster is going to need a hand, Not just arranging things and putting things away, but he's going to need a hand working with the different patrols and making sure they get the stuff that they need. There's going to be times when the scribe is going to need a hand, when the senior patrol leader is going to need a hand, when the assistant senior patrol leader is going to need a hand.

We were off on a backpacking trip this weekend and we were shy- a patrol leader or two So this guy can go in and help mentor a younger scout in leading his patrol through a camp out. There's just dozens and dozens of ways to approach this.

And I think that we get frustrated sometimes as scout leaders because we think you know well, the boy really needs a patch. But using the scout-master assigned leadership project is a great way to help a guy fulfill that requirement in the next rank.

Now you and I both know that wearing a patch does not make you a leader. That's right. Occupying a position does not make you a leader. What makes you a leader is what you actually do.

So I am very happy that this is built into scouting And it's wonderfully flexible and individualized. And that seems to be the theme of the podcast today is treating scouts as individuals and dealing with their individual wants, needs, desires and talents. We've used it many times very effectively in helping develop a young man's leadership skills and helping him find different ways to help his fellow scouts.

So, Mike, I hope that's helpful to you. I'd like to know how you handled the situation And if you've ever used the scout-master assigned leadership project or have some ideas about it, let me know so I can share it with everybody else.