Multiple+Registration

Many Scouters are registered in more than one position - sometimes several or even many. Probably most of you have seen them - some of you are probably among them. They are the ones that show up everywhere, serving in a pack, troop, crew, on the district committee, commissioner service, roundtable, etc. Some even use velcro on their position patches! Some are involved in some Scouting activity nearly every day of the week. Some hold unit positions, district positions, council positions, regional and national positions.

I can understand someone perhaps being registered in a Cub Scout position and then maybe in a Boy Scout Troop, or in a Troop and a Crew, but I wonder about those that register in multiple positions.

Firstly, how effective can one person be serving in multiple positions? I admire the dedication to the program, but are those that are multiple registered really effective in all of those positions. Could they be short-changing the program rather than benefitting it?

Also, what about the impact on the multiple registered Scouter's personal life, their family?

To which position is a multiple registered Scouter "loyal" to? Which one has priority over another?

What are the "rules" on multiple registraions? I know that you must be primary registered in one position and pay the registration fee for that, and then the other positins are "free". I know that a commissioner is not supposed to also be a unit leader but I am not sure what is considered a unit leader in relation to being a commissioner (I was told Den Leader, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Crew Advisor) - can a person be a Committee Chair and a commissioner? Can a person be a commissioner for a unit that they are also registered in? Seems like a potential conflict of interest to me.

Is there a maximum number of positions that a Scouter can be registered in?

Just wonder what you all thought about this and if anyone knows what the official rules are about multiple registrations.

My primary position is committee chair for my Troop.

I am a committeeman on my son's Crew.

I am the physical arrangements guy on the District Roundtable staff; I wear a Boy Scout RTS patch for that.

We won't talk about the other "one hours a week" jobs that don't have registrations associated with them.

Part of this depends on where an adult places Scouting in the scheme of his/her life. There are folks out there in VFW, Legion, Rotary, Kiwanis, Masonic, Knights of Columbus land ... all of whom have dedicated their MAJOR COMMUNITY SERVICE time outside the family and church to their organizations.

I've found these past few years that Scouting has these same sorts of folk ... our focus is raising up young men and women for our community service.

My thoughts

Seems to me what I'm about to say seems like a double standard.

I do realize that some districts and councils would face a real hard time if the people who wear multiple hats were to quit.

I have during my term as District Chair and before as District Commissioner really tried to knock some of these hats off.

For the record I do wear two hats, one as District Chair and the other serving as the World Jamboree Chairman on the NE Region Area 4 Committee, by the time that job moves into high gear my term as District Chair will be over.

I don't like having people serve in multiple positions for several reasons. First it has been my experience that they don't know which master they serve. When as often happens there are two activities going on at once where doe their loyalty lie? I want the people who serve on the District Committee to put the District Committee first. Then it seems that these people seem to be involved in so much that there is so many things that they can become upset about. At times I do think they use being upset to mask the fact that they are just plain tired and burnt out. Having to say goodbye to a person who has filled multiple positions, knowing that we now need to recruit four and sometimes five people to fill the vacant spots is hard on everyone.

At times these multiple hat wearers get the idea that we can't do without them. They sound off making it seem that they are some kind of Scouting Martyr. This really gets under my skin, especially when they don't get their own way and start threatening to quit. My normal answer to that is that you decide what you want to do and let me know.

Another district in the council did try having commissioners that were unit members be the Unit Commissioner and it just didn't work. There were times when they were the problem in the unit and without any fresh eyes to look at the problem objectively things just got worse.

There was a time when I was so busy Scouting that I placed my family second. I thank God that I caught myself in time. I now make sure that I put Her Who Must Be Obeyed and my family first. I have several friends who have gone through divorces because of the time they spent Scouting. Many lost a lot of things that they held near and dear to them. Some found that once they handed over the money for child support and whatever else they had to pay out that they just couldn't be as active as they once were.

I am a very selfish person!! I know that before I can do anything for others I have to make sure that I'm in good shape. There are times when people will come to me with a problem and are surprised when I tell them that I can't deal with them or their problem because I think that I'm in a bad mood or just don't feel good.

I think the world of my home and family and put Her Who Must Be Obeyed above all else. I know that if there was all sorts of problems and turmoil at home or at work, I wouldn't feel good and be any use to anyone.

Eamonn.(This message has been edited by Eamonn)

As they say on airplanes..."Please put on your own oxygen mask before attempting to help others."

I am new to these forums so please forgive my naetivity, but here goes. Seems to me you can't survive in this day and age without being a multitasker (Husband, Father, Son, Worker, Scouter

Knights of Columbus, School Board member, girl Scout leader....). The secret with anything is moderation and knowing your own limits and capabilities. In a town called Perfect there are always enough Scout leaders for every position.

Living in reality, for scouting to exist in many areas unfortunateley people must wear several hats. I remember when I was in High School, I had several Scout meetings a week up to 5 for my troop, OA meetings for both the chapter and the Lodge, district Roundtable(SPL's were invited and ran the training program while the adults went to the business side) I could not get enough of it then or now. I am now a Unit Commissioner and I am costantly bugging my DE with what I can help with next. Sometime between my youth days and when I walked back inth the scout office to volunteer I graduated college(took 18 years but I did it!!), spent 8 years in the military and started a family,7 kids so far and hopefully counting. Here is my point if I have one: You have to realize your limitations, Communicate constantly with your Spouse, Family, other Scout Leaders, Bosses and coworkers, ask for permission at times and forgiveness others, Know when to say yes and more importantly when to say no. My wife is Brownie leader for my 3rd grader with 2 more girls ready to join GS in the future and I have become a UC. these jobs help us find balance between family and work. I encourage her and she me. When my 2 youngest boys become scouting age I pray that I can be their den leader, cubmaster and scout leader. If they dont want to be in scouting then I will still do those things and still attend the events that they are involved in. All in moderation.

I think that a UC can also be a unit leader but not for his own unit, my district tries to recruit new UC's from our larger and successful troops committees and also talk to the parents of prospective eagle scouts when they come to BOR's.

The better you are at recruiting the less the number of people who need to wear multiple hats.

Ok Enough rambling, hopefully one day all parents will find the willingness, time and energy to be involved in their kids lives again and volunteer to be their scout leaders and we can all live in a town called perfect..

YIS - Eagle81

I wear multiple hats. Sometimes more. Sometimes less. I always try to do my best for each and every hat I wear.

The biggest problem with people wearing multiple hats is that we don't live in perfect. There are enough people that want to use us as a babysitting service but have no idea what commitment means unless it has something to do with making sure "I'm home in time to watch ER, American Idol, Survivor,...."

I want the best program possible for my sons and for all the youth who are able to take advantage of Scouting. I'll do whatever I can and make the best of it.

You can point fingers at almost any occupation, group, etc. and find many people that MUST multitask out of necessity. Some do it better than others. The key is knowing what the priorities are and being able to maximize your effectiveness in everything you do. Sure there will be screw ups and let downs. But I'd rather screw up trying and give a kid an opportunity to participate than to tell that same kid "Sorry, no one wanted to help out so you're out of luck."

It takes two people to allow multitasking to happen. The person who assums the mutiple responsibility and the chairman that allows it to happen.

Good selection and recuitment takes time and when a volunteer offers to take a part of the load it is often too easy for a comittee chair to say yes without seriously looking at what load the volunteer already has. We would be better of to say "not now you have enough on your hands, but if you ever complete that responsibility come back and see me."

Some jobs work well muti tasking, Unit commissioning and Rountable staff, RT staff or Unit Commissioning and Training. But Too often we allow ourselves to say yes more often than we should and it affects performance, leads to burn-out both in and out of scouts, as well as a hectic personal calendar.

I take one job per year and work it like a WB ticket item. I apply the Skills of Leadership to each duty. This effort takes all of the extra time that I can give to Scouting and it is more than one hour per week. It took a long time to learn the importance of this balanced approach. It also allows me to have family time, Church time, and quiet time. I recommend it.

FB

I am registered as ASM for the troop. I am also on the District Advancement Committee, a Unit Commissioner, and a Merit Badge Counselor. For each and everyone of these positions I have to fill out a new registration form. Not real sure why, it can be a hassel at times and would probable same trees if they would cut these forms down to one. But for now that is the policy in our council and I will abide by it.