By John Hagerman
As a merit badge counselor for my son’s Boy Scout troop I frequently need to sign off on the boy’s completing another badge. Each one is a step toward a higher rank. More importantly, each one marks another set of skills the boys had to learn. What they gain is more than just a brightly colored patch on their uniform. What they gain is another piece of the puzzle of how to become confident, compassionate, and mature young men – the future leaders of our businesses and our country. From what I see, the future is bright for these boys. I wish there were a similar, clear-cut path everyone could follow to adulthood and leadership.
Imagine the shape our county would be in if every businessperson and political leader took a weekly oath to follow just half the things a scout does? If trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrift, brave, clean and reverent was the starting point; our economy and country would be in much better shape. We wouldn’t have business leaders focused more on profits than people. And we’d have political leaders more concerned with doing the right thing for the country rather than doing whatever they can to maintain power. Yeah, I know, it’s a high, unrealistic dream, but I see boys doing it every week. Why not our leaders?
I’d like to share the story of one scout that I believe demonstrates what we want in our future leaders. This young man struggled with grades and missed far too many days of school due to allergies and injuries. He didn’t always want to go to scouts, but did often enough to slowly advance up the ranks. The one thing he loved most about scouts was the camping, particularly the troop’s yearly sojourn to Many Point Scout Camp in Northern Minnesota.
Upon arrival at the camp he would suddenly take charge of getting his patrol’s camp area set up. He would cajole the other scouts in his patrol, younger and older, to get the job done quickly and right. He approached all the activities at scouts with the same gusto, be it the rifle range, the climbing wall, the ropes course, or the water activities like canoeing and sailing. The adults in his troop noticed, and so did the adults who ran the scout camp. When he was only thirteen, the leaders of Many Point camp recruited him to be a CTI (counselor in training) the next summer. Our scout jumped at the chance.
The next summer, while only fourteen, our scout spent five weeks working at the camp. He wasn’t paid, and he was the youngest scout on the camp team, but he worked hard, watched, and learned. He quickly took the lead on projects and became good at working with scouts attending the camp. He discovered a skill for patience and for gently leading scouts through earning a merit badge. He would encourage scouts who were scared, or who just struggled with the skills. He would also effectively corral scouts more intent on goofing off or acting up than on doing the requirements, and lead them through completing their tasks. He became a role model for campers, as well as staff. The staff noticed and offered him full-time employment as a counselor the next summer.
The next year, while only fifteen, (he turned sixteen on the last day of his contract, just making it under the minimum age requirement). He loved it and that love was reflected in the quality of the work he did. He continued growing as a leader and was soon in charge of a number of areas in the high adventure part of the camp.
Since then, I’ve had the chance to watch him demonstrate great leadership qualities while he works with the younger scouts. He patiently gets them to do things they didn’t think they could do. You can see the confidence growing the scouts he works with. You can also see the smiles and head nodding among the adult leaders who have watched him. I’ve heard them say, “You know we’re doing something right when you see a kid like Holden grow into the kind of scout he is today. He’s amazing.”
I can’t help but agree. As a scout leader, Holden exemplifies what scouting is about. If every kid found a path of growth to young adulthood the way Holden did, I know our country would be in good hands. At least I know a lot of boys who have found that path.
Holden is just a couple of steps away from earning Eagle Scout, but he still is a teenager with teen attitudes, mood shifts, contrariness, stubbornness and skill at negotiating his way out of or just plain ignoring chores, but that’s to be expected. After all he is only sixteen and I have to watch him every single day, not just at scouts. Holden is my son. While I’m proud of him, I can honestly say that when I step back, I admire who he has become. I can see the positive impact he has on other people and I can’t wait to see the kind of impact he will have on the people an organizations he connects with in the future.
On many levels Holden is one of my heroes. I’d love to take all the credit, but I have to give a lot of the credit to his mother, my wife. I also have to give a ton of credit to the Boy Scouts and the path to adulthood they offered him. Like I said at the beginning, I’d like to find a way for every younger person, every businessperson, and every politician, to find a path to leadership as effective as the one my son discovered in scouting.
As a speaker, author and consultant, I try to open the path for other adults, but I’m just one voice. I encourage others to do the same. Our world would be better for it.
By the way, there is one job scouting seems to be really good at preparing people for – President of the United States. Eighteen President’s have been Boy Scouts: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert C. Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagon, George H. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Recent Comments