Fred Goodwin, CMA
2008-02-08 18:44:35 UTC
Boy Scout Week Salute: Scouts teaches young people leadership and
wisdom
<http://westlibertyindex.com/article.php?viewID=1396>
by Tom Norris · February 06, 2008
With Boy Scout Week upon us, I thought I'd do away with the usual
facts-n-figures and talk straight about the organization.
Some will read this and think, "That's nice, but who cares?" One youth
club is as good as the next; it doesn't really matter. But at what
point do the things we do start to matter? I suspect this is
determined by the degree to which it influences our life.
After 14 years in the service, most of that as a light infantry
officer, I feel qualified to offer a professional opinion on
leadership, something I believe laymen see as an arbitrary skill: You
either get it or you don't, but if you don't, oh well; it's not
necessary to be happy - an assumption that couldn't be more wrong.
Often left as a tangential effect, few youth organizations have
leadership at their core. The Civil Air Patrol and Junior ROTC do, but
that goes to reason. However, like baseball and soccer, they're
limited in what they offer, unlike the Boy Scouts. Think of it like a
computer or driver's license: What can you do with it? I dunno. What
do you want to do with it? In football, you're limited to playing a
game and perhaps learning something of teamwork (a result of
leadership, but how often do they study that at practice?). In
scouting, the possibilities are designed to be limitless.
Some parents tell me it doesn't matter if their son is in scouting.
And I agree - it's no guarantee of success. (Statistics hint
otherwise.) But then they extend this to say, if it doesn't matter,
why bother? You don't need a driver's license, either, but life is
simpler with one. And you don't need good grades to have a happy life
and satisfying career. On the other hand, these help in a large way.
Leadership is no exception.
--
Tom Norris, Scoutmaster
[excerpted]
wisdom
<http://westlibertyindex.com/article.php?viewID=1396>
by Tom Norris · February 06, 2008
With Boy Scout Week upon us, I thought I'd do away with the usual
facts-n-figures and talk straight about the organization.
Some will read this and think, "That's nice, but who cares?" One youth
club is as good as the next; it doesn't really matter. But at what
point do the things we do start to matter? I suspect this is
determined by the degree to which it influences our life.
After 14 years in the service, most of that as a light infantry
officer, I feel qualified to offer a professional opinion on
leadership, something I believe laymen see as an arbitrary skill: You
either get it or you don't, but if you don't, oh well; it's not
necessary to be happy - an assumption that couldn't be more wrong.
Often left as a tangential effect, few youth organizations have
leadership at their core. The Civil Air Patrol and Junior ROTC do, but
that goes to reason. However, like baseball and soccer, they're
limited in what they offer, unlike the Boy Scouts. Think of it like a
computer or driver's license: What can you do with it? I dunno. What
do you want to do with it? In football, you're limited to playing a
game and perhaps learning something of teamwork (a result of
leadership, but how often do they study that at practice?). In
scouting, the possibilities are designed to be limitless.
Some parents tell me it doesn't matter if their son is in scouting.
And I agree - it's no guarantee of success. (Statistics hint
otherwise.) But then they extend this to say, if it doesn't matter,
why bother? You don't need a driver's license, either, but life is
simpler with one. And you don't need good grades to have a happy life
and satisfying career. On the other hand, these help in a large way.
Leadership is no exception.
--
Tom Norris, Scoutmaster
[excerpted]