New Scouts and the Patrol Method?

In order to keep a Scout Troop established along the lines of the Patrol Method and being Boy-led, it is important that new Scouts in the Troop are taught about the Patrol Method and know its importance and the responsibilities it requires of each Scout.

Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as having an “Introduction to the Patrol Method” Class every year. The truth is, maintaining a Boy-led, Patrol-Method Troop is a lot of work, and that’s why some Scoutmasters have given up trying. However, I’ve always been glad it wasn’t that easy. The Patrol System isn’t easy, but neither is Scouting, for that matter. And that’s what makes it worth doing.

A properly functioning boy-led Troop is self-sustaining. Through the constant care and attention of the Scoutmaster and the boy leaders, new Scouts who enter the Troop learn by both emulating the older Scouts and being directly taught about the Scout method by them. There are five areas of the Patrol Method that are especially important when it comes to teaching it new Scouts:

Scout’s Scrapbook (8-7-12): The Secret of Patrol Leaders

Today’s edition of The Scout’s Scrapbook is a quotation from the founder of Scouting, Baden-Powell, which I found particularly powerful:

In this quote, Baden-Powell is very clear on the importance in which he holds the Patrol Leaders. Since Patrols are real units with real responsibility, the Leaders that they elect are equally real and should be given true responsibility. There are many Troops that have Patrol Leaders who have responsibility in name only. The Troop might be constantly lauded for being a “Boy-led Troop”, but that doesn’t mean anything if the boys are simply leaning on the Scoutmaster for every decision.

In my experience, most Patrol Leaders fall into two categories: those who try to claim as much independence for themselves as they can, and those who prefer to lean on the Scoutmaster or an older Scout to make most of the important decisions. Although both extremes are to be avoided, I have seen Patrol Leaders leaning on the Scoutmaster to be much more common. The Scoutmaster has an extremely important role in Scouting, but so often Patrol Leaders, nervous about their new positions, will instinctively try to lean on the Scoutmaster for everything, without standing on their own two feet. The Scoutmaster, who naturally wants to help the Patrol and Patrol Leader, often lets this happen and ends up making most of the decisions through the Patrol Leader.

I know from personal experience how hard it can be to implement this in a real Troop rather than just on paper. And I recognize that it, like most things, is a process. As Patrol Leaders get elected, serve, and then move on, it will be a lot of constant work for the Scoutmaster to help teach the Patrol Leaders their role and how to handle their responsibility. Following this advice of Baden-Powell is difficult, no doubt, but seeing as how he constantly emphasized the importance of the Patrol System in Scouting, it is worth it to do our best.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Scout’s Scrapbook and that it gave you something to think about. If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear them! If you like this post, please pass it along!

Scout’s Scrapbook (8-4-12): I couldn’t care less!

In today’s edition of the Scout’s Scrapbook, John Thurman, a distinguished historical British Scouter, gives what I believe is the best advice ever given to a Patrol Leader:

There is something very important that we can learn from this quote. This advice is applicable for not only Patrol Leaders, but also for anyone in a position with leadership and responsibility.

To start off, John Thurman points out a saying that had just started coming into widespread use when he wrote this, and is still heard much today. He believed this saying illustrated a very dangerous attitude that makes Patrol Leaders unworthy to hold their position if they say it and mean it. The saying is: “I couldn’t care less”, why is this such a big deal? Well, it is impossible to be a good leader unless one has himself personally invested in the group that he is leading.

What do I mean by “personally invested”? Well, when people ask me for advice on how to be a good leader, I tell them that the absolutely most important thing is for them to truly care about those who are following them. They’ve got to want what’s best for their group so bad that they can taste it! All other little aspects of leadership; such as motivation, communication, and etc.; will fall into place if the leader cares about his group this much.

I see a lot of young men that I believe could be excellent and effective leaders… if only they would care about it. If one cares about his group so much that he tries to do everything that he can to help them be better, even if it costs him much, then that person is truly a leader.

If you’re disappointed with how the group you are involved with is doing, and how they are responding to your leadership, the first thing you need to do is examine yourself and your attitude. Being a good leader will take everything that you’ve got, that is why good leaders are so scarce. You’ve got to have genuine passion; when that happens, everything else will start to click into place.

So far, I’ve never heard anything that says this better or more succinctly than John Thurman’s quote, and that is why I have included it in today’s Scout Scrapbook. If you take this advice to heart and put it into practice, than you will go places you’ve never dreamed of!

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Scout’s Scrapbook. If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear them!

What’s the Patrol System Anyway? – Baden-Powell

Robert Baden-Powell (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“The Patrol System is the one essential feature in which Scout training differs from that of all other organizations, and where the System is properly applied, it is absolutely bound to bring success. It cannot help itself! The formation of the boys into Patrols of from six to eight and training them as separate units each under its own responsible leader is the key to a good Troop. The Patrol is the unit of Scouting always, whether for work or for play, for discipline or for duty. An invaluable step in character training is to put responsibility on to the individual. This is immediately gained in appointing a Patrol Leader to responsible command of his Patrol. It is up to him to take hold of and to develop the qualities of each boy in his Patrol. It sounds a big order, but in practice it works. Then, through emulation and competition between Patrols, you produce a Patrol spirit which is eminently satisfactory, since it raises the tone among the boys and develops a higher standard of efficiency all round. Each boy in the Patrol realizes that he is in himself a responsible unit and that the honor of his group depends in some degree on his own ability in playing the game.”

-Baden-Powell in ‘Aids to Scoutmastership’