Non-profit & Great Leadership

The Boy Scouts of America is an organization that I have been involved with my entire life. Even with the cover ups in Oregon, and many other lawsuits, I still believe that the tens of thousands of youth who have been positively impacted by this organization is something that we can’t look past. The question behind these successful youth turned adults then becomes, “Who is behind it all?” To answer that, we need not look at the current CEO of Boy Scouts of America, Mr. Wayne Brock, or even the Scout Executive of my local council in the Philadelphia area, Mr. Thomas Harrington. The answer lies in the adult volunteers that run each Boy Scout and Cub Scout unit throughout the nation. From my personal experience, I can say that the majority of adult volunteers in the scouting program are servant leaders, holding the ten characteristics of servant leaders described Northouse (2013). It is my belief that the scouting program is run by the idea of servant leadership.

Before beginning on why I feel that way, I want to first look at those ten characteristics that Northouse (2013) listed:

Listening
Empathy
Healing
Awareness
Persuasion
Conceptualization
Foresight
Stewardship
Commitment to the growth of people
Building community

Now that’s look at the twelve points of the Boy Scout Law:

Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent

In both cases it is obvious that there are similarities between the two. In fact, I will even go as far to say that the majority, if not all, of the “traits” in the Boy Scout Law are necessary components for the characteristics that Northouse describes. I’m not saying that I believe that the Boy Scouts of America National Board sat down in 1910 and decided the Scout Law should be written to exemplify servant leadership, but there is certainly the common ground in one word: serve. Scouts are built to serve the community and Northouse (2013) highlights how those who are developed can make better decisions involving themselves and those around them. I believe that is a distinct similarity between the two.

Additionally, it is even written in Youth Leadership Training Continuum that part of the National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) and the National Youth Advanced Leadership Experience (NYALE) is to teach scouts to become servant leaders (Boy Scouts of America). It goes on to define servant leadership is used to teach youth leaders about “others-first leadership (Boy Scouts of America). As an Eagle Scout, I can say that I most definitely experienced this and put it to use in whatever I was doing. In fact, I still have that same mindset today in everything that I do.

After looking at all of the information presented and understand who is responsible, I now think the biggest question is, “What does this mean?” Well, the proof is in the pudding. According to the U.S. Scouting Service Project, notable Eagle Scouts include Sam Walton (founder of Walmart), Steven Spielberg (self-explanatory), Michael Moore (author & filmmaker), among countless U.S. Representatives, Senators, CEOs and many others. The point here is that these individuals all went through the scouting program and I truly believe that the Scout Law went on to push them to become servant leaders, which in turn, gave them the opportunity to excel greatly in their respective fields. When looking back and my original thought that the scouting program is partially run by servant leadership, I now think it is more of a symbiotic relationship. Scouting promotes servant leadership, which then provides the World with thousands of well-prepared young adults who understand what it means to be a leader and ultimately get a head start compared to their peers.

References:

Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Boy Scouts of America. Youth leadership training continuum. Retrieved from http://www.scouting.org/ScoutSource/BoyScouts/TrainingModules/YouthLeadershipTrainingContinuum.aspx

U.S. Scouting Service Project . Famous BSA Scouts. Retrieved from http://usscouts.org/eagle/bsfamous.asp

Comments

CRAIG ROBERT WELLS says

November 11, 2012 at 3:53 pm

Bringing up the Boy Scouts is a great example of Servant Leadership. I as well spent some time as a child in the organization. It does well for a number of reasons. The adults and volunteers that help the scouts typically do not have a an agenda accept to promote the well being of the scouts. This is the underlying message of servant leadership. It is to guide the followers to be productive and the best that they can be.

Thanks
Craig