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Burnout of managing the program. A volunteer organization gets about 2 good dedicated years from the average volunteer and three years of providing an adequate program. After that, they either leave or just basically show up. The scouts get a boring program each week that they whine about to the parents. The parents will make them stay as long as they can stand the whining. The Cub youth program is 5 long years for the adults. Cutting out the Tiger program completely, and shortening the Webelos program would bring the Cub Scout program to a more manageable 3.5 years, and reduce the adult - Today
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Some of this is literally set an expectation. Sometimes replacements don't step up because you're not clarifying the unfairness of no one else stepping up. I was wearing multiple hats at a local unit and no longer have kids in it. The COR and I had several succession discussions over the past 7 months or so and I was clear and fair to the unit; I let the COR know that were certain things I was no longer doing; however, I would stay on to help train replacements. It's the CORs primary duty to find adult leaders; it's great to help. I am moving on because I set clear expectations and no one can -
So my question about the burnout is; burnout directed towards what? Is it overall fatigue? Is it sick of toxic leaders? Is it the 365 cycle of fundraising?
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Actually they did. During the NAM presentations the repetitive response to this question was basically "No one see's scouting in the community anymore so they think scouting no longer exists." the response to the why they left seemed to be "bad experience/didn't like the unit, and people don't know they can be a member of any unit not just the one next door/at their school/what they were told".
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You have to be careful with this as the new platform is a choose your own adventure type situation. Many of the things we're discussing are still in the rank but there alternate options. The quality of the program is going to fall on the den leaders to make sure they are choosing to do the engaging fun stuff instead of just what is easy for them. The handbook reads like everything is required; however, when you go look at the website there is a bit of wiggle room. The new ranking scales per "story card" which outline indoor vs outdoor, energy level, resources, and time are going to be interest
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Is Becoming a MB Counselor Worth the Effort?
Tron replied to swilliams's topic in Open Discussion - Program
I apologize on behalf of the MBC corps as it sounds like a lot of your issue is that your unit does not understand the MBC role and governance. Just push through, it's worth it. Your council is absolutely correct, being an MBC is a council membership requirement. You have the right to choose to be council wide, district wide, or just specific unit(s); however, it's a council at large membership. Because of that council at large membership you do have to fill out a new (no cost if already registered) membership denoting 2nd/dual membership enrollment and someone from your council will have t -
Ed O'Keefe reports on a scout planned 10.5 mile trail of U.S. history in Paris. https://www.cbsnews.com/video/the-history-of-boy-scouts-in-france/
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Yes, let’s try to have minority in scouting try to improve its membership. This is about how to increase female membership. Do you have a role in that? If you do, I am sure they would include you.
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I'm curious how this inclusiveness jives with the annual girl only camporee. Doesn't sound inclusive to me. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=844830384336661&set=a.554791236673912
- Yesterday
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That questionnaire is definitely a great idea. So are the suggestions you gave to the District Executives. Agreed, the hardest part is getting the actual leaders to buy into it. Other practical steps. (I apologize in advbance for my stream of consciousness) Committee Chair and SM need to be on the same page as the troop requires adult leadership in both areas. Immediately register every adult in the troop and have them complete YPT. this serves a number of functions, first and foremost it sets the tone that participation and training is the basic expectation of all people in th -
No need to apologize. You see things others don't yet, but should. I call that "Vision." I am intensely interested in the practical steps you see that can be taken in a scout troop setting, given the scarcity of replacement prospects (at this point, I still see those numbers as a limiting condition). Educate me! I'd dare say that many units (and districts) would find your suggestions helpful. ABOUT PRACTICAL STEPS: Twenty-five years ago when my first child joined our troop, each parent was given a questionnaire asking about skills, interests, hobbies, equipment (trucks, tra -
I'll come back and read the rest of the thread later, but wanted to comment quickly on this video. For the first half of the video, we see the boys doing the action (kayaking, biking, rock climbing, ziplining), and the girls standing on the beach at sunset, eating marshmallows, and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. It gets slightly better later on, but if the message with the name change is about meeting the needs of all youth, they need to start being more careful about their visual messaging. This female would greatly prefer the kayaking and ATVs to a walk across a bridge in the city.
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Add to that burnout the difficulty of finding adults who are still involved who don't treat the scouting like it's their absolute last priority. My younger son is done. He indicated he wasn't really interested in scouts about 18 months ago, but seeing what his brother has gone through in that same time period (and experiencing some of it himself) he doesn't feel like any fun or value he's still getting out of it are worth the aggravation. Key examples: merit badge counselors who take weeks to respond, then can't find time to meet the scout once they finally answer, scoutmasters and assi -
An enjoyable Sunday morning read. "Tents cover the Oxford County Fairgrounds in June 1949 in Paris for the historic Boy Scout Jamboree, the largest camp gathering in New England at the time. More than 3,000 Scouts from 11 counties participated, with 125 groups from southern Maine. The site is now the location of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School on Main Street.. "One motivated and energetic group from Pownal, led by Scoutmaster David Whittemore, hiked 38 miles of roadways over two days, starting at the Pownal School and staying over in Hebron, before arriving at the fairgrounds.
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I apologize, it isn't an easy distinction to make and most dismiss my distinction as a difference in rhetoric but it is much more than that in practice. The distinction is between focus on people vs system. Notice your response was focused solely on people; how many, etc... Because people come and go, and this is especially true when the number is limited, this focus rarley is successful. And as you point out, people are complicated. I advocate a focus on the organization itself, the processes which are utilized, and the decisions which are made. All of the decisions, processes, procedu
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I'm not really following the distinction you see, or how it works in practice. In our small troop, most willing adults have several troop jobs and there are only a few other adult prospects who are not interested or willing. The result is that there are virtually NO prospects to be one's replacement let alone that replacement's replacement. The concept of "two deep replacementship" requires 3 willing and capable adults for each unit position. That just has never happened. I would prefer a "farm system" where the holder of a position has two successors in the wings. The senior replac
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Yep. The finding one's successor is the problem I identified years ago in so many organizations. This doesn't work. It focuses on finding a person. Instead I believe it is better and more effective to focus on one's replacement's replacement. This requires focusing on the system instead of an individual. People come and go, which is why the "find one's successor" most often fails in the long term. It does not sustain itself, it has a single point of failure. When the focus is on creating a system by which leaders are nurtured, recruited and supported then the system itself generates succe
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Is Becoming a MB Counselor Worth the Effort?
OaklandAndy replied to swilliams's topic in Open Discussion - Program
100% worth it. I taught Rifle/Shotgun during summer camp for 2 years, with some other events outside of camp, and the look on their faces when it "clicks" is satisfying EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. Feed the bureaucracy their paperwork so you, and the scouts, can reap the rewards. -
And the obvious fact our small units NEED the adult help is often why we do not get the cubs to join us. They go where the group is larger and has the adults involved more highly and in larger numbers. You can almost see the parents thinking as the politely thank us for the visits. -
Is Becoming a MB Counselor Worth the Effort?
DannyG replied to swilliams's topic in Open Discussion - Program
Yes. It is worth it. I will soon complete my first year as MB counselor. Also ASM for the troop. It is amazing to watch scouts grow, learn new skills, and bring them back to the troop. There seems to be an all-around registration issue going from paper applications to electronic. I am stuck trying to renew. The prompt says to renew in the electronic system but nothing about my MB counselor position is in there. -
I found the call to action years ago when I rejoined Cub Scouts with my son. It became apparent that the Pack would quickly fall apart if new parents did not take on any leadership roles. It took me about a year to relearn the program, another year to find a place because we had a dedicated den leader, then we were running the show. Out of 8 youth that joined my son's new den as Tigers, at least 6 of their parents eventually became registered as leaders: Den Leaders/Cubmaster/Committee Chair/COR/Treasurer, etc. I had skills to bring as a former scout. But even parents who had no past experienc
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I came to the realization decades ago that the first step upon assuming a role in Scouting was to start looking for a successor. I thought that accomplishing that could take several years. It soon became apparent that my efforts would have scant success in that in a troop of 15 scouts, or so, with two pairs of brothers, leaving 13 pairs of parents as prospects, and subtracting me and the other 3 or 4 parents already active, and subtracting most of the moms who are welcome but show little interest, that left about 8 "eligible/prospective" successors. Of those maybe one or two had been s
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Yeah, leader burnout is a real thing. this is true in most organizations who fail to have a systematic approach to future leader recruitment and training. This also permeates to the youth; for good and for bad. I have found that the best philosophy for myself is to build the capacity to cultivate your replacement's replacement. This future forward approach requires longer term planning than the typical "find one's replacement". It is difficult for sure. I still have not figured it out completely. I have figured out that just having that principle as the premise helps tremendously as it
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I'm talking about leader burnout. When leaders burnout, the program becomes boring and the scouts leave. Your idea is sound from a marketing perspective, but it doesn't approach the real issue. Barry
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I'm not going to try and quote stuff here, but the gist of the survey mentioned may be correct, and the sex abuse settlement may be one of our crosses to bear (reputation?) ,but that is not why kids join Scouting.... Some sort of Scouting. Kids go to school usually because their parents want them to. We (parents !) realize we want our future (kids!) to know stuff. How to read, how to write, how to , as my dad used to say "cipher" . They stay in school, hopefully, because they (the kids ) come to LIKE learning, if it is done well by gifted, talented teachers. It is a challenge to speak,
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Posts
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Burnout of managing the program. A volunteer organization gets about 2 good dedicated years from the average volunteer and three years of providing an adequate program. After that, they either leave or just basically show up. The scouts get a boring program each week that they whine about to the parents. The parents will make them stay as long as they can stand the whining. The Cub youth program is 5 long years for the adults. Cutting out the Tiger program completely, and shortening the Webelos program would bring the Cub Scout program to a more manageable 3.5 years, and reduce the adult requirements to half. Barry.
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Some of this is literally set an expectation. Sometimes replacements don't step up because you're not clarifying the unfairness of no one else stepping up. I was wearing multiple hats at a local unit and no longer have kids in it. The COR and I had several succession discussions over the past 7 months or so and I was clear and fair to the unit; I let the COR know that were certain things I was no longer doing; however, I would stay on to help train replacements. It's the CORs primary duty to find adult leaders; it's great to help. I am moving on because I set clear expectations and no one can complain because I am offering to help train my replacement. In the interim the COR is going to have to put on those extra hats which will put pressure on him to get the job done in recruiting a replacement. At the district level it is often the district executive and the council executive that are at fault. The specific fault is the chair of the nominating committee is garbage. Recruiting for the district or council committees cannot be limited to "Does anyone want to nominate anyone? derp!" It has to be a call every unit, visit every unit situation. Every unit needs to be contacted every single year and asked to nominate at least 1 of their scouters to join the district/council committee(s). BTW if you have not figured out my districts whole nominating committee is a dumpster fire.
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So my question about the burnout is; burnout directed towards what? Is it overall fatigue? Is it sick of toxic leaders? Is it the 365 cycle of fundraising?
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Actually they did. During the NAM presentations the repetitive response to this question was basically "No one see's scouting in the community anymore so they think scouting no longer exists." the response to the why they left seemed to be "bad experience/didn't like the unit, and people don't know they can be a member of any unit not just the one next door/at their school/what they were told".
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You have to be careful with this as the new platform is a choose your own adventure type situation. Many of the things we're discussing are still in the rank but there alternate options. The quality of the program is going to fall on the den leaders to make sure they are choosing to do the engaging fun stuff instead of just what is easy for them. The handbook reads like everything is required; however, when you go look at the website there is a bit of wiggle room. The new ranking scales per "story card" which outline indoor vs outdoor, energy level, resources, and time are going to be interesting to see how many lazy den leaders naturally gravitate to the 1 and 2 (low end) prep time/resource requirement story cards (adventure options).
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