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Committee Chair Troubles


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He is back at it!  The CC is driving the ship and probably driving many boys and adults leaders away at the same time.  What is the best, fastest way to put a stop to this?  Is there something that points to a statement like "the committee chair need not be present at regular troop meetings and is not responsible for leading the boys in the troop"?

 

 

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The job description of a Commitee chairman are written in numerous BSA publications.   I'm sure readers will be onboard shortly with exact page #'s and exact quotations, but in general, no a Commitee chairman runs the troop committee and has no duties interacting with the boys at all.

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He is back at it!  The CC is driving the ship and probably driving many boys and adults leaders away at the same time.  What is the best, fastest way to put a stop to this?  Is there something that points to a statement like "the committee chair need not be present at regular troop meetings and is not responsible for leading the boys in the troop"?

 

 

The job description of a Commitee chairman are written in numerous BSA publications.   I'm sure readers will be onboard shortly with exact page #'s and exact quotations, but in general, no a Commitee chairman runs the troop committee and has no duties interacting with the boys at all.

 

Chapter 4 of this wonderful document.

 

As a general rule our adults do NOT address the troop. Our SM meets with the SPL and PLC to make sure THEY KNOW that they run the troop. They can request, and do, that the adults stay in the background and do not address the troop. Period.

 

If your CC cannot abide by that then, frankly, I'd have a meeting with the SPL and CC to make sure each knows their role. If the CC continues to be Der Führer you may not have many options left besides leaving.

 

Frankly, I'd flat out ask him why he feels the need to be so hands on in an organization designed to develop boys as leaders. He may be in the wrong organization depending on his answer.

Edited by Mozartbrau
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Truth of the matter is that most units are led by the dominant adult. It doesn't matter what their position title is, their personality will drive or intimidate the adults to follow. The best way to get the CC to back off is for the SM to tell them to do it. If they need help, contact the DE and ask for advice and help. It's hard to say how they will answer the request because DE's are human too, some are wise, some are strong, and the rest aren't. 

 

Tell us about the SM.

 

Barry

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The implication here is that the CC wants to "be in charge".   What does the SM think about this?  What does the COR think about this?   Maybe the CC could be encouraged to found his own Troop (as SM?) at another CO?   Perhaps the CC does not see himself as others see him, and that is why he needs to be reminded about what he learned in his Training.   Oh, what?  Training?  What training?   Perhaps the  http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Troop_Committee_Chair  might help . It points to the Offishul BSA website, but is more to the point....

 

" Keep your stick on the ice. We're all in this together. I'm pullin' for ya."  

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Before going to the DE, keep it in house..  If the scoutmaster can get him to back off by laying down the law with this is my job, that is your job.. Don't cross the line.. Then the next line of defense is your  COR who has the ability to have the CC do his job, and not the SM job.. If the COR is not helpful, then up the ladder to the Institutional head (IH) of your CO.. After that you can move to your DE, but only if the COR & IH are too weak to pull rank on the CC.. If they are totally backing the CC, then the DE will not cross the line and take the opposite position of you COR & IH.. Any time in there you can also get advise from the Unit Commissioner of your unit (if you have one) but they are more like a counsilor offering advise & suggestions and have no power to pull rank on anyone.

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Then the next line of defense is your  COR who has the ability to have the CC do his job, and not the SM job.. If the COR is not helpful, then up the ladder to the Institutional head (IH) of your CO.

 

In my area the COR and CO are not that involved in troop politics. They don't really see their role as the employer of the CC and SM. They'd more than likely defer to the DE as to who was/wasn't doing their job. 

 

I wonder how many units have this model versus the model you describe.

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In my area the COR and CO are not that involved in troop politics. They don't really see their role as the employer of the CC and SM. They'd more than likely defer to the DE as to who was/wasn't doing their job. 

 

I wonder how many units have this model versus the model you describe.

 

Very common really. In the normal world, 95% of the population is passive and doesn't want to rock the boat. That makes it easy for an overly dominating person to take the reins of the program. What follows is that families that don't like the leadership leave while the rest find their quiet place in the program. I am sure most units on this forum are the same because to some degree just about all organizations follow this rule of nature. In most cases the dominating leaders use all the resources to units best advantage, so they don't appear dominant. It is when a unit gets that dominating personality with a more self-serving agenda that units have problems. I was asked to help several of these types of units when I was on the district committee. 

 

It is very difficult for a unit to follow a leader who lacks some kind of leadership head characteristics because they by nature will step back when a person of stronger character steps up. That is why I asked about the SM. If it is not in him to step up, nature will push the CC to lead. I've seen this happen with ASMs, CORs, and even unit commissioners. The problem isn't so much these personalities stepping on toes, the problem is the unit lacks the personalities in the right positions to hold aggressive personalities back.

 

Barry

Edited by Eagledad
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Can you be more specific this time on what, exactly, the CC is doing that is driving you to request advice here?  You were pretty vague the first time around, and you're being pretty vague again. 

 

Not only vague, but speculative.  Probably is not a word that suggests that you know for a fact that the CC is driving people away from the unit.

 

Without any details, we might conclude that it's possible that the best solution would be for you to find a new unit more to your liking.

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In my area the COR and CO are not that involved in troop politics. They don't really see their role as the employer of the CC and SM. They'd more than likely defer to the DE as to who was/wasn't doing their job. 

 

I wonder how many units have this model versus the model you describe.

Yeah it's not really an area, it is more based on each CO ... We have been in units with weak CO leadership, you find them to sign the forms and that's it.. We have been in ones with very strong CO leadership.. the strong CO seem to have the better running units from my personal experience.. The troop my son finally landed in has a very feisty firecracker COR, she not only ran our units but when she said jump the Council would jump.. She knew who ran council and since there were few COR's getting involved at council level she knew she carried a big stick.. But, she was this little bitty lady, who knew her stuff having grown up with her father working in BSA all his life, and her brothers going through BSA, and she herself had been a DE.. Think someone like Hetty on NCIS-Los Angeles running your units..

 

The Pack we were in had a softer CO, but with a presence, while we were there the COR of the organization was also a parent of a scout.. They sometimes got involved at unit level, never at council level and wrote checks to send scouts in need to camp..

 

The last Pack I was Unit Commissioner for the IH was also the COR, and he would show up for some committee meetings, Blue & Gold and some Pack meetings.. He once or twice was the deciding vote when the Pack couldn't agree on something.. But, that was less of a success, not for the CO, but couldn't get parents to take on leadership roles..

 

The two troops we tried and moved on from because they were totally not being run right, had the CO's that you just located to sign forms..

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I met our unit commish once last year, right before he was retiring.  I was manning a ministry fair table at our CO.  He approached.  Seemed like a nice fellow, offered to help.  We had a nice general chat for a minute or two, he explained how he was retiring at the end of the month, or some such thing, but repeated his offer to help even after that if I needed anything... as he handed me a business card....

 

So I say, now that you mention it, I have been wondering about something..... and proceed to start to explain some situation or issue.... i don't even remember for sure what it was now.... it was funny.  He almost cut me off interrupting as he turned away saying he had to go, or some place to be or something.....

Figures....

 

I never did hear about any replacements for him.

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He is back at it!  The CC is driving the ship and probably driving many boys and adults leaders away at the same time.  What is the best, fastest way to put a stop to this?  Is there something that points to a statement like "the committee chair need not be present at regular troop meetings and is not responsible for leading the boys in the troop"?

 

Talk to the COR, and get him/her on board.  Talk nicely to the CC about not bothering the boys (phrase it nicer that that, though). 

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