Real Responsibility

At the heart of Scouting lies the intention of giving young men the opportunity to develop into contributing, capable and empathetic adults. To say that Scouting is simply leadership development misses many of the intangible things that a Scout learns through the program on his way to adulthood.

I have seen touching demonstrations of tolerance and friendship, heroic endurance of difficult circumstances and the development of inner character.

Leadership is an important quality, but it is not all there is.

These qualities develop as a result of Scouts being given real responsibility for themselves and their fellow Scouts.

Scouting does it’s best to optimize the ability to succeed but it also must allow the latitude to allow a Scout to fail.

There is little sense of accomplishment when something is achieved in an environment that has eliminated the possibility of failing. We have been conditioned to think that failure is altogether negative, but mistakes teach us some of life’s most valuable lessons. As a wrestling coach I welcomed hard matches and losses because these ‘failures’ provided more opportunity for learning and sharpening skills than winning. No championship team gets to their goal without significant development, and much of that development is based on how they incorporate the lessons that their failures teach.

Handled properly failure provides sharp insight and intense motivation. When a Scout fails it is up to adults to turn the failure into a teachable moment and ultimately a positive experience.

Scouting is not designed to be an efficient program.

There are supposed to be lots of bumps and setbacks along the way.

These difficulties demonstrate that the Scouts have real responsibility.

Leaders are on hand to coach, train and encourage, but never to eliminate the possibility of failure or to bail the Scouts out of tough spots. What we, as leaders, need to overcome is the frustrations of a youth-led program. We have to remember that the Scouts are not our employees; they are players in the game of Scouting. We are coaches and coaches have to remain on the sidelines, we aren’t allowed to go on the field and play the game.

Scouting is not a managerial science, it is a game.