scouting

I’ve been involved with youth leadership development as a volunteer in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) programs for nearly 35 years. I was a Scout in my youth for 11 years, earning the Eagle Scout Award, and holding many different roles as a leader of my peers, of events, and even of leadership training courses. As an adult volunteer (age 18 onward) I have been involved in leadership training for Scouts and for adult leaders, and even in leadership development event design and implementation. My leadership has been tested and forced to grow even recently, with a complex international volunteer leadership role from 2017 to 2020, where I formed and led a team of 30 who supported my responsibilities directly, and we as a team supported more than 5,000 international staff volunteers.

With all of that leadership experience in an organization designed to teach leadership, the chapter on “followership” that I read this past week in Northouse’s (2018) book titled Leadership was my first exposure to a formal discussion on following as an integral component of leadership. That seems like an oversight—the BSA aims to develop leadership and character in all of its members, and yet there has been little training or discussion to prepare leaders to understand the value, necessity, and growth of the followership. For example, the word “follower” does not appear once in the Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops (ILST) syllabus (Boy Scouts of America, 2018). ILST is the first leadership training experience provided to Scouts in the BSA programs, and there is no mention of the followers on the other side of the leadership equation.

Screen capture of the cover page of the Boy Scouts of America's training curriculum titled "Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops.

Northouse’s (2018) definition of followership fits well with the Scouting program: Followership is a process whereby an individual or individuals accept the influence of others to accomplish a common goal. In essence, followership is not just a component of the methods of the Scout program, it actually represents the vast majority of the actual Scout program that is experienced by the Scouts. In the Scouting program it is regularly reinforced that not everybody can be the leader, but group cohesion makes possible many achievements that are far greater than an individual can deliver. The organization is hinting at followership, but failing to name it directly. By not naming it directly, the BSA consequently misses the opportunity to help developing leaders understand the value of followership.

Followership may be much of the Scouting experience, but Scouting alumni are not showing signs of appreciating the follower experiences that they received as a part of their leadership training. I know this anecdotally—from my own experience as a Scout and from the experiences of the young people I’ve worked with—but we can use some Internet searches to see what Scouting alumni are reflecting from their Scouting experience. Although unscientific, just scan the Figures 1-4 below, and see that when alumni think and talk about their Scouting experience. Scouting alumni seem to fondly recall the successes and failures they experienced during the times when they were leading others, and nobody is talking about anything they learned from their experiences as a follower who was being led by their peers.

Screen capture of Google search results showing a search for the phrase "Scouting taught me to be a leader" yields 8 hits.

Figure 1. A Google search for the phrase “Scouting taught me to be a leader” yields 8 results.

Screen capture of Google search results showing that a search for the phrase "Scouting taught me to be a follower" yields zero hits.

Figure 2. A search for the phrase “Scouting taught me to be a follower” yields zero hits.

Screen capture of Google search results showing that a search for the phrase "Scouting taught me leadership" yields 7,510 hits.

Figure 3. A search for the phrase “Scouting taught me leadership” yields 7,510 hits.

Screen capture of Google search results showing that a search for the phrase "Scouting taught me followership" yields zero hits.

Figure 4. A search for the phrase “Scouting taught me followership” yields zero hits.

Ultimately, the new paradigm of leadership study will move from the avant garde to the mainstream. I predict that within a decade the word “followership” will be much less obscure in leadership discussions. However, the real test on leadership development will be whether the BSA, a tradition-bound organization filled with many tradition-adhering volunteers, will begin to integrate the perspectives of followers into their training for leaders. Should they endeavor to prepare their Scouts and volunteers to understand the value of followers, we will see the leadership of Scouting alumni mature to new levels of effectiveness for the organizations and communities they will serve.

References

Boy Scouts of America. (2018). Introduction to leadership skills for troops: Facilitator guide. Boy Scouts of America. https://www.scouting.org/training/youth/

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice (8th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.

For my last blog relating specifically to this leadership, I want to turn back to my involvement in scouting. This time around I want to look at ethics in scouting. More recently, the Boy Scouts of America had to recently release files regarding child abuse by adult leaders. As an active participant in scouting, one who has been involved as a youth as well, I want to share my opinion on such files. I am one of the youngest leaders in my Philadelphia Area Council (at only age 21), so my take on these files and the morality in Boy Scouts is what I would consider to be unique.

When these files were first released I was stunned by the number of adult leaders who were identified as child abusers. It’s embarrassing to know that over a long period of time National Scout officials actively hid these files from law enforcement. I feel for all those effected, but my position is now to defend the goal of the scouting today. The majority of those cases were filed prior to the consistent enforcement of a program the Boy Scouts call Youth Protection Training. Before I continue, though, I want to reiterate that I am angered by the past actions of National Scout officials, but I am in favor of the programs put in place by the organization today. Youth Protection Training is required every two years by all adults involved in scouting. They must take an online course and show that they actually paid attention by taking a quiz at the end of the course. If they do not pass the course, they cannot be registered as a leader, and therefore, cannot be allowed to come in contact with any youth through the scouting program. In addition to that, they have recently (just this past year) revised their application for adult leaders and it now requires multiple background checks to ensure that convicted child abusers are not allowed into the program. I have never even heard of any abuse occurring in my area, so I do not have any personal knowledge of it going on. However, when you have a program involving both young males (and females) and tens of thousands adult volunteers, it’s sad to say it, but there is almost always going to be one that slips through the system. The difference between the time most these instances occurred and now, is that there are now people in place and policies in place to prevent such cases.

Like I said before, it’s a shame, but there is only so much screening that this organization can put in place to look at prospective volunteers. The other addition to Youth Protection involves adults

already involved. I have undergone extensive training to become the rank of Assistant Scoutmaster and in every one of those training programs the safety of the youth involved is the top priority. After having a lesson on ethics, I couldn’t help but relate Aristotle’s view on the virtue theories (PSU, 2012). Aristotle (shown to the right) says that a moral person demonstrates the following virtues (PSU, 2012):

– Courage

– Temperance

– Generosity

– Self-Control

– Honesty

– Sociability

– Modesty

– Fairness

– Justice

In scouting today, I honestly can say that I believe all of these values are an embedded in the program. Both youth and adult scouters have to be courageous in some way shape or form. Whether it be hiking in the woods with all sorts of animals around, or presenting your case to be voted into a senior leadership position, such as Senior Patrol Leader. Temperance and self-control are also crucial components. Leaders have to make sure that they are showing a good example in front of youth, and likewise for older youth in front of younger youth. It teaches the participants to be respectful and use restraint in situations that may aggravate them. Scouting is all about generosity, whether it be raising money for a local charity or giving back through Scouting for Food, where they collect canned goods for the less fortunate. Honesty is a major part that is reflected through everything that we do. Being social is a critical component because we are always doing something in the community, and with that comes being modest. We know who we are and society knows who we are, and we need to reflect our values through everything we do. Lastly, I want to examine fairness and justice, since they fit into what this blog started out as. Scouting is more open now than ever before with not allowing those into the program that can be danger to the other participants (youth and/or adults). However, we are also unbiased towards race, gender, etc. Both men and women are allowed in scouting and programs have been established even more female youth. In an ever changing world, where equality and high morals are more important now than ever before, Boy Scouts of America is an excellent example of honestly and opening serving society.

References

Penn State World Campus. (2012). Lesson 14 : Ethics and Leadership. Retrieved from:https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa12/psych485/001/content/14_lesson/04_page.html

Acknowledging followership is essential in a leadership development organization

The Right Way, The Ethical Way.