Pack leadership

[jamist649 10]

Good Evening,

 

I took over as CM of our Pack last August and (if I say so myself) have put 110% into the position. Due to the efforts of alot of people (not just me), we have nearly tripled our membership...going from just 9 Scouts to 27 with interest growing almost daily.

 

With growth comes growing pains...and we're hurting! Whereas the previous Cubmaster was able to handle nearly all aspects of of Pack operations before...I'm about to lose my mind!

 

As of right now I have the following leadership positions within our Pack the ones with (new) beside them are positions that I have added: Cubmaster, Tiger DL, Wolf DL, Bear DL, Webelos DL (one DL for BOTH WI and WII!), 2 Den Chiefs from local Boy Scout Troop (new), Fundraising chair (new).

 

I would love to have a treasurer (right now the Webelos DL and myself handle it), an advancement coordinator, and a Pack trainer. But I'm having issues getting parents to step up. I'm planning on hitting them with it hard come late summer when we start with our new programs and new Scouts.

 

What kind of positions do you have in your Packs? I've heard all kinds of positions, but I'm most interested in hearing from people who come from Packs about my size. Any information would be most appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[Basementdweller 608]

How about a Committee Chair, Secretary, Membership Chair, Public Relations (handles calendar, newsletter and Pack meeting flyer, Popcorn Kernal, as you mentioned Advancement coordinator, treasurer and Pack trainer.

 

Go for it.

 

But remember the bigger the committee gets the slower it moves and politics become more of an issue.

[ScoutNut 147]

A BALOO trained camping/outing chair.

 

 

Here is a BSA document to help you in recruiting leadership for your Pack -

 

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/510-500.pdf

 

 

[Mom2Scouts06 10]

In our pack we have Cubmaster, ACM, Committe Chair (me lol), Secretary, Treasurer, Advancement Chair, Outdoor Chair, Pack Trainer, and then we have a person in charge of Blue and Gold and Popcorn.

 

I find that as Committee Chair I just have to keep my eyes open for people I think would be a good fit for a position and then approach them about it. Some people are just not willing at all and others are willing but they want to be asked!

 

Good Luck! In a growing pack you need alot of help!

[bbender 21]

Our experience has been that form should follow function, that jobs generally fall into three categories noted below, and that gravity will constantly draw the jobs back onto the person who is driving the program overall (whether Chair, or Cubmaster, or an active Den Leader) so you've got to be vigilant to give tasks to people and keep them communicating with each other!

 

The three areas the jobs flow from are the following (and, of course, some folks might have jobs in more than one area if that lines up with their skillsets):

 

1. "program" jobs: every Den with a Den Leader and Assistant (plus "every parent leads" by helping at two meetings); plus Cubmaster and Assistants.

 

2. "administrative" jobs: Chair to oversee and be the primary recruiter to support Den Leaders; plus Treasurer to collect and account for Pack funds, Membership Coordinator to collect applications, handle recharter, and allocate "new member" stuff; Advancement Coordinator to handle records, inventory, assist with ceremonies; Communications Chair to oversee website, surveys, photos, etc.

-- To help "Pack Leaders" in these areas, we recruit helpers from each Den/Rank level, creating instant "committees" to share the work.

 

3. "event" jobs: in addition to event/outings coordinator, more important is the actual event organizers (we try NOT to have the Cubmaster or Den Leaders do both "event organizing" details plus program at those events), so for us that means something just about every month (some events being easier than others).

-- Likewise, we recruit helpers from each Den/Rank level.

 

We also sign up "snack czars" for each Den, so that the Den Leader has one less thing to track.

 

A link to the positions we have, and snapshots of "what you do" in the applicable jobs, can be found in our About Us and How to Join Page. That also contains the "Every Parent Leads" commitment that we require (which, of course, doesn't get universal follow-through, but is a lot better than what we once had!).

[DenZero 10]

The most important thing is to have a Committee Chair who is activiely involved and is not the same person as the Cubmaster. You are supposed to have 3 committee members on the charter (including the CC); ideally they should not be den leaders as well. Regardless how many committee members you have, someone should be in charge of publicity and recruiting (maybe the CC?). You have to keep recruiting or you will be back down to 7 boys. It is critical that there be leadership meetings on a regular basis (at least quarterly, but preferably monthly). There needs to be an expectation that these meetings will happen, so that if the person responsible for calling them doesn't call it, someone else will call it. A regular time and place helps with this. Someone needs to be watching, so that if one of the leaders is not doing his/her job, someone can step in and try to fix things. In the small pack that I was involved with, it got up to over 20 boys, but never had a functional committee, so that when the guy who was doing the jobs of Cubmaster and Committee Chair essentially stopped doing both, nobody noticed until it was too late.

 

[Scoutfish 16]

Heres my experience with it:

 

Last year, our pack's committee was it's leadership!Actually - vice versa _ The leadership was the committee.

 

The CM was The CC.

 

A DL was the treasurer.

 

The ACM was the secretary.

 

DL's made up the entire committee.

 

Things seemed to run pretty good too. But it was also my first year as a scout parent who also happened to be very active with my son and helping the pack out when and where ever needed. My first year.. I had no idea about how things sghould be, how things are "supposed" to be.

 

This year a bunch of great new to scouting parents , and experienced with scouting parents stepped up and we now have a brand new and complete Comittee. At least 15 to 20 people are on the comittee who have absolutely nothing to do with pack leadership positions.

 

We have people who chair fund raising, publicity, events, B&G, equipment, advancement , etc.

 

Some DL's and ADL's work with committees to assit with manpower, but we are not necessarrily officail committee members.

 

 

How is it working? Hard to say:

 

The CM hasn't been seens pulling out her hair lately.

 

The ACM hasn't been spotted banging his head on the broom closet door this year,

 

and Den Leaders stopped cowering in the corners - sucking their thumbs and crying.

 

But on the opposite side... I have noticed DLs who are not used to being questioned about what they do.

 

Some DL's have a "Who are you to question my authority?" attitude when it comes to spending pack money or making solo decisions on stuff that requires the comittee and leadership to vote on.

 

And we have some "But that's how we always did it before"(ists) every now and then!

 

 

Basically, it seems like it's working, but we are experiencing growing pains as well as "Power" conflicts.

 

Oh yeah, we are a pack of about 120 Cub Scouts that also happened to be a pack of 70ish Cub Scouts last year.

 

So double on the growing pains!(This message has been edited by scoutfish)

[CPAMom 10]

Good job! We have had our own growing pains this year. Last year, the Wolves were nonexistent, and at the end of the year Webelos I & II earned AOL, so our two oldest groups and their leaders left the pack. This year we've had strong Wolves & Webelos I, but struggling Tigers & Bears with poor DLs. All of the PC jobs got done by CM, Wolves DL (which is CM wife), Wolves ADL, Webelos DL and his wife(myself). For pack events, CM wife was not organized in asking for assistance, so every event was a crisis that I got pulled into. We have 22 active scouts, mostly in Wolves & Webelos I.

 

A new couple moved from another state who were very good leaders in their previous well run, large pack. They are leading the way in encouraging us to form a PC. Positions are outlined in the Cub Scout Leader Book. Monday, I presented a summary of where we are and a summary of what next year will look like. Big change: Pack Committee and Leaders' Meeting Monthly, a time & place to request help. I presented a sheet of paper with all the PC and leader positions listed. It has become clear to me that this sheet of paper needs to be presented multiple times. Not all positions will be filled, but the needs are listed. Also, we are setting the stage that the pack needs parental help.

 

I got the list of PC positions from the Cub Scout Leader guide. I will add the Event Coordinators for specific yearly events on the next go-round.

 

It has taken a lot to change the course of the ship which was CM & DL do everything. I expect that the pack will grow if we have a good leadership team in place.

[John-in-KC 311]

DO NOT FORGET BOY SCOUT DEN CHIEFS!!!!

 

Have your Cubmaster approach your friendly, neighborhood Scoutmasters and ask for quality youth leaders to reach back and serve Cub Scouts.

 

A trained Den Chief, working with a DL (who has also taken DC training),who become a team with his DL, can be the best recruiter a Scout Troop will ever have. IMNSHO, the relationship between Den Chiefs and Cubs should begin no later than Bear year.

[jamist649 10]

John-in-KC, you're exactly right. We have added 2 Den Chiefs to our Pack this year...quite and achievement given the fact that our Pack has NEVER had any before. We have one assigned to our Bear Den and one assigned to our Webelos I and II's, however they work with ALL Dens at Pack events. The boys LOVE them! They asssisted with our Pinewood Derby, camped with us, and attend Den meetings. It's been a great addition.

 

 

[perdidochas 658]

I will have to third the den chief suggestion. Den chiefs are great to have. They give the boys somebody to look up to, and they are great assistants.