Ten Common Scoutmaster Mistakes

  1. Making things more efficient Changes that compromise the responsibility of the scouts to do for themselves may make things more efficient, but they are inimical to the spirit of what we want t accomplish.

  2. Applying uniform standards “Our standard for badge earning—as I have frequently said—is not to attain a certain level of quality of work (as in school), but the AMOUNT OF EFFORT EXERCISED BY THE INDIVIDUAL CANDIDATE.”

  3. Applying metrics The answer is not in numbers of camp outs, number of hours or contracts; not snap judgments or fits of temper.

  4. Thinking of themselves as the boss “Scoutmaster” doesn’t mean “master” of anything. In fact, if we substitute “servant” for “master” we’ll be a lot closer to the truth of the matter.

  5. Making their own policies Scouting seems to attract doctrinaire, fussy, hairsplitting, nitpicking, pompous, priggish, people who promulgate rules and regulations from thin air. We are relentlessly policed by self-appointed inspectors of uniforms, advancement experts, Eagle project czars and various keepers of the unknowable.

  6. Being the Senior Patrol Leader The young man was still puzzled. “Okay, let’s go back a minute. If you guys do everything without the SM’s guidance, how do you know what to do at meetings and activities?”

  7. Not using the Patrol Method The Patrol is the unit of Scouting always, whether for work or for play, for discipline or for duty.

  8. Maintaining rigorous standards I spent a few years discouraging Scouts by throwing every possible impediment in their path.

I was the worst kind of Scoutmaster- a self appointed guardian of an unattainable standard of perfection. What I became was a grumpy old man ready to swat any hand that reached for my holy awards.

  1. Managing instead of guiding Like a Scoutmaster a gardener is more an observer than a participant. Both must understand how to collaborate with rather than resist the powerful forces at work.

  2. Self importance …When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!’ To lead the people , walk behind them.” Lao Tzu