leader crisis

[troop173fl]

Hey,
Some backround first:
Since i joined BSA, i have been one of those kids with the "im-a-rebel-without-a-cause-and-i-wont-listen-to-leaders" attitude. But dont get me wrong, i could be serious when i needed to, but very rarely(court of honor, etc). For the first 3 years in scouts, My troop did fine. Then the older kids dropped out. A couple made eagle, and the rest quit when the eagles did. So then my troop was without leaders. But i had an impression on kids. Kids listened to me, and i could lead them, but i didnt want that responsobility, so i was never anything above PL. This past year, we had only one kid run for SPL, and he was a bad leader. After 2 months, he just quit, without any warning.
So now i got appointed SPL, no voting involved. Nobody wanted to run, so i had to. But now there are only about 13 kids in my troop. My questions are, how can i increase the size of my troop, and second, how do i get adults involved? I can lead kids, but the adults sure can hold a grudge.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
BK
Life scout

[wagionvigil]

you need to take JLT as soon as possible. Read everything you can on troop operations. Junior Leaders Handbook for one. Attend Roundtables if your adults will not. If there are some troops close by you could go to ca couple of their meetings and see how they operate.

[freebyrd1964a]

If I may, Wagionvigil is right. Take as much in the way of training as possible. Attend Roundtables and any other meeting concerning the leadership of your troop.

I don't know your adult leadership, but I would hope that if you show that you can be a serious leader and that you care about rebuilding your troop, they should come around.

Keep yourself and your troop focused and you should be ok

[teepeeayy]

Training is ok, but setting an example will do more to win friends than anything. Be who you want to be, if your leadership is good, the adults will see it, spread the word, and the troop will grow. Don't force anything, be a consistent, trustworthy leader. Keep your word.

Oh, yeah.....have fun too!

[Lynda J]

Teepeeay is right. YOu made a comment about the SPL that ran not being a good leader. Look at what he was doing wrong and don't follow by example.
SPLs set the mood of the troop. They are the ones that the younger boys look up to.

As far as adult leadership. Get in touch with your Charter Orig. and see if they might be able to help in that area. I know that years ago when the troop I am in all but folded that is what happened. There were boys wanting to be in scouts but no leaders to help. The CO stepped in and one of the men took over as the SM. Before the year was out the troop had grown and again had good leadership. Now, even though we are not a large troop (19) we are an active and growing troop.

[ASM-142]

Everyone must remember a leader is not a boss that gives orders. To be an effective leader you must be able to communicate and lead by example.

[RWSmith]

Everyone must remember a leader is not a boss that gives orders. To be an effective leader you must be able to communicate and lead by example.

Bro ASM-142, Although I agree with your later comment, I must say, the former got me to thinking... [Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!] IMHO, it is necessary for an effective leader to sometimes be "a boss that gives orders." Now, I'm not tryng to twist your statement around, really; but, let me tell you where this took me...

First, being too "bossy" or "barking orders" at the wrong time or too frequently, is an improper use (or over-usage) of a very effective leadership style. I mention it because, all too frequently, bossing, giving orders, or "delegating" is taught (if not outright, then by implication) to be a negative, unwanted leadership trait; that somehow, the best measure of a true leader is that he (she) never has to resort to bossing or giving orders. And, IMO, it is imperative for young, developing leaders to understand and experience what it feels like to be "the heavy," "the boss," or to "give orders," and more importantly, when it is appropriate and even necessary to draw out the "canon" and what and how to handle the potential ramifications of such. As I have said before, in another thread on this message board, there are specific instances when a "leader" (or anybody else, for that mattter) might need to step up and be the man (or boss, or woman) and give orders and, more importantly, to be prepared and able to back it up.

There's no such thing as a good leader or a bad leader. A leader is a leader. (Sorry, in advance, for the semantics. It sounds stupid to an adult; but, to you teenagers who are reading this, it seems to work... No pressure. Kinda.) But, an effective leader, a well-practiced leader mixes and balances, to varying degrees, the four styles of leadership. (E.g., Director, Coach, Particpatant and Delegator... Yeah, I know, so I'm old school; it's what I know.) A leader is ineffective when he or she rigidly relies on one style (or just one mix of two styles) in an effort to motivate everybody he or she interacts with, under every circumstance, to accomplish any and all goals. This is caused by one thing: fear. OTOH, lack of experience (or caring) often results in the wrong style being used at/on the wrong person, place or time.

For example, if I were an EMT, working an automobile accident, I would, as a general rule, interact with a fellow EMT (of equal experience and rank) as a Participant; I would interact with a junior EMT as a Coach or Delegator, or even better, a mix of both. If a life-threatening situation required my attention, I would be immediately switch to Delegator, no matter who it is I'm dealing with.

You set a 12-, 13- or 14-year old kid down, who wants to know about this stuff, and you'll be amazed at the near-immediate results.

[ASM-142]

I agree that there are different leadership styles and a mixtures should be used. For the most part an effective manager (leader) alters his/her style based on who they are managing. It is easier for a manager to alter his/her style then for a staff to change to the manager.

As far as a boy leader, they need to participate equally to effectively lead. If other boys do not see the boy leaders participating and sharing in the work load they will not be happy about the situation.

As far as you comment

I would be immediately switch to Delegator, no matter who it is I'm dealing with

If you are an EMT and a Doctor is on the scene you should not be the Delegator but follow the Doctor's direction

[optimist]

troop173fl, if you want your troop to grow, you need to let people know you exist. Get out there and let the world know that there's this great bunch of guys in your town that have fun hanging out together and you're looking for more guys to hang out with. Tell the newspaper, the local radio station, and every school and church in the area. Crow like a rooster! It's your troop and you're proud of it!

But there's a second piece to the growth puzzle. Yell from the mountain tops all you want but if you really aren't having fun in your troop the new Scouts won't stay. Heck, the old Scouts won't stay. You need to work real hard on making meetings and outings into activities your fellow Scouts will want to come to. As SPL, you are the key to making this happen but please don't try to do it all yourself. Get your Scouts and your leaders involved in this process. Plan your work and work your plan

[Bree]

I'm going to agree with optimist. Our boys are facing the same delimma so to speak. They have the adults but started with only one boy. How did he bring them in? It's simple, he talked about all the things he had already done and then once they started to ask questions, he told them about all the upcoming plans. The Civel war reenactment, the barrier islands trip, white water rafting, and the next thing we knew instead of one we had 8. Your scouts are your best form of PR the more they enjoy it, the more they talk and the more interest they get. Also, push the scout laws and teach them to live it. Parent's love that. It's the whole change the world thing. LOL When MOST adults look at young men trying to make a difference and trying to do the right thing, more often than not, they get involved. Show them you're for real and not just playing around at becoming an adult.

It sounds as if you have a good head on your shoulders, you'll do well. Keep your head up and do your best, that's all anyone can ask. Good Luck.

[diamondbackAPL]

my thoughts exactly, optimist. you need to advertise at schools and churches, etc..., and maybe a recruiting night wouldn't hurt either. on the "is being a scout cool?" forum, somebody wrote about having a "scouting day". maybe you could try that.

as with the leaders, encourage parents of scouts to volunteer as leaders, if enough parents want to do it you will get more leaders as you get more boys.

just my 2 cents.

[riverwalk]

The best medicine for anything is continued Training. Good intentions, good examples/modeling, whatever....is made better by proper planning and Position preparation, IMHO.

[616kayak]

My troop s gained 4 new scouts this year who were not from our Cub Scout pack. Here’s how:

We have a fundraiser that we do. It is a carwash. Our troop meets at one of the biggest churches in Miami. We sold tickets for two weekends at all of the Sunday masses and the sat masses. We were in uniform. On top of making tons of cash we got 4 new scouts. 3 were from the church 1 was a friend of one of the new scouts. By being in public in uniform adults will see you and say to their kids I was a Boy Scout . The kids usually give it a try and like it.

I’ve always known the kids who were a pain in the butt when they were young would make good leaders when they mature.

Tips:
1) Be assertive. Don’t be rude, just let the adults know that the scouts need them for merit badges and things.

2) Do not yell. Let the adults yell. If they see the adults have your back they will be good. If you yell you may loose a lot of popularity really fast.

3) Delegate, make sure your assistant assists you.

[Lynda J]

My dad always said the best leader is the person that
"After everything has gotten done others look around and say "didn't we do a good job" A great leader guides then steps back and no one really realized they have been led.