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Why
Leadership?
In most
football teams the captain is the team leader. Why is that? Is
there something magic about the position? Does he automatically
become the leader --- the guy who makes the team go --- when he
is named captain by the coach? No, there's more to it than that.
Lots more. Usually he is named captain because he's already a
leader. He's already the kind of guy the other players like to
follow. And if the coach is wrong about him, he probably won't
stay captain very long. If he can't lead the team, he won't have
much value even if he can hit a receiver at 40 yards. Because
every successful team must have a leader. That goes for your
Scouting team, too --- your patrol and your troop. In
fact, if the patrol and troop are to succeed, you need several
leaders. Guys like yourself who want to try "leading" in
Scouting. One of the aims of your local Leadership Training Camp
is to show you how to become a better leader. Let's begin by
being honest about it. You are not going to find 5 or 10 simple
rules to follow to become a good leader. If leadership were as
easy as that, almost everyone would be a good leader. And you
know that most people are not. There are no rules for
leadership. But there are certain skills that every good leader
seems to have. You learned about them at your Leadership
Training Camp and have practiced some of them in your troop at
home. Some of these skills you may already have even without
knowing it. That's the funny thing about leadership --- a good
leader doesn't necessarily know how he does it. He just does
what comes naturally and the others
follow him. Although he may not know it, he has
mastered the skills of leadership. This doesn't mean we
guarantee that you'll be elected society president next year.
But we do guarantee that you can make yourself a much better
leader in just a few weeks or months.
What Affects Leadership?
Leadership is not magic that comes out of a
leader's head. It's skill. The leader learns how to get the job
done and still keep the group together. Does this mean that the
leader does the same things in every situation? No. Here's why.
Leadership differs with the leader, the group, and the
situation. Leaders ‑‑ like other people are all different.
No leader can take over another leader's job and do it the same
way.
Groups
are
different, too. A great football coach might have difficulty
leading an orchestra. A good sergeant might be a poor
Scoutmaster. So when a leader changes groups, he changes the way
he leads.
Situations
differ, too. The same leader with the same group must change
with conditions. A fellow leading a group discussion needs to
change his style of leadership when a fire breaks out. As a
Scout leader, you probably can't lead the group in the rain the
same as you do in the sunshine. An effective leader, then, must
be alert at all times to the reaction of the members of the
group; the conditions in which he may find himself; and be aware
of his own abilities and reactions.
Leadership Develops
Picture a long
scale like a yardstick. On the low end, there are no leader‑ship
skills. On the other end, there is a complete set of leadership
skills. Everyone is somewhere between
those ends! Where do you find yourself at this time?
Unknowingly, you may be further up the scale than you realize.
As a staff member you'll now have the opportunity to find out.
How Will
You Know You are Improving?
You learn leadership best by working with groups.
That is something like learning swimming best by getting into
the water. Yet you can't keep track of your progress without a
guide. You must know and understand what you are trying to
learn. This means you have to know what the skills of leadership
are.
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