The Passing of a Scouter

I received the sad news of the passing of another of our Scouting brothers and thought this was an apt verse to share:

He was getting old and paunchy

And his hair was falling fast,

And he sat around the Scout Hall,

Telling stories of the past.

Of a camps that he once organised

And the deeds that he had done,

In his exploits with his buddies;

They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his scouts

His tales became a joke,

All his buddies listened quietly

For they knew whereof he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,

For old John has passed away,

And the world's a little poorer

For a Scouter died today.

He won’t be mourned by many,

Just his children and his wife.

For he lived an ordinary,

Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,

Going quietly on his way;

And the world won't note his passing,

'Tho a Scouter died today.

When politicians leave this earth,

Their bodies lie in state,

While thousands note their passing,

And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories

From the time that they were young

But the passing of a Scouter

Often goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution

To the welfare of our land,

Someone who breaks his promise

And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow

Who in times of hardship and strife,

Steps up to serve his country

And offers up his time?

The politician's stipend

And the style in which he lives,

Are often disproportionate,

To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Scouter,

Who offered up his all,

Is paid off with a thank you

And not even a pension, small.

It is not the politicians

With their compromise and ploys,

Who won for us the scouts

That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,

With whatever risks at hand,

Would you really want some cop-out,

With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Scouter--

His God, his country, his fellow man,

Just a common Scouter,

Who would do his best until the end?

He was just a common Scouter,

And his ranks are growing thin,

But his presence should remind us

We may need his like again.

If we cannot do him honour

While he's here to hear the praise,

Then at least let's give him homage

At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline

In the paper that might say:

"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,

A SCOUTER DIED TODAY..." 

Getting the Stones in First!

Many of you will have heard the old time management example in which a cup is filled with large stones and the audience is asked if the cup is full, to which they of course reply it is.   The presenter then pulls out some smaller stones and shows that they can fit more in, This is inevitably followed by successive demonstrations of the addition of more sand and water.  The moral of the story is that, in the gaps between the big important things on your schedule, it is often possible to slip in multiple smaller tasks and in so doing get a lot more from a day.  However this also opens the door to one of the most common leadership mistakes, namely the vicious spiral many leaders get sucked into in which the urgent takes over the important on an ongoing basis. simply put if there is too much sand in the cup you ain't gonna get the stones in.

This spiral leads to goals that are unmet or have slipped past their deadline. It causes a lack of focus for the organization as people begin to question what the real priorities are for the Association. And ultimately, as the syndrome spreads to the volunteers in the organisation, the success of the organization is held back and doesn’t perform, because volunteers, imitating the leadership, are so focused on putting out fires (writing this weeks programme) and not preparing for the future (getting all the kids to Leaping Wolf/Springbok) because the future is so unclear.

So what are the important things a leader should be focused on? And when the urgent hits you in the face, which it does to us all, how can you deal with it so you can quickly get back to the important items, which will make the difference between your organisation surviving and thriving?

The Important

The leader's ultimate job is to move their organization forward towards the organisations long-term vision. So the important things to an organisation are those activities, decisions, meetings, volunteers, and external influences that will impact the organisation in getting to their long -term vision.

And we all know the urgent, a volunteer crisis, a problem with the programme for this week, a parent/scouter/scout not meeting their commitments, a scout requiring quick feedback on a advancement project, and the list goes on and on.

If you look at people who are very effective at managing the important versus the urgent, what you will find is three things that made them effective:

• delegation,
• time management
• and emotional intelligence (the ability to be calm and not over react).

Effectively delegating urgent issues requires that you can trust that the person you are delegating it to, can get the job done on the required timeline and has the necessary skills to deliver the necessary quality in the job. If you find yourself consistently taking on specific urgent issues, for example financial issues, then this probably means you either don't have the right person managing the groups finances or you need to develop the person so that you can offload more finance issues. Or, it may be that you have trouble letting go of control. It this is the case, ask yourself "How will I be able to grow the Association if I continue to fear letting go of the comfortable and non-risky tasks?"

Time Management is the next critical skill to stay out of the trap of being stuck in the urgent.. The point of "big rocks" is that if you keep tackling the small things, the sand and pebbles, and not the important strategic items, then your pot will be full of sand and pebbles with no way of inserting a big rock. The urgent really aren't the rocks; they are like pebbles, which get caught in a bicycle's gears, which can derail an organisation. As a leader your time should first be focused on the big rocks, and when the pebbles pop up and try to derail you spend time to reprioritize so that you can get quickly back on track to address your big rocks.

And finally, having the skill to manage your emotions in times of the urgent is critical to leadership success. Many leaders forget that they are "on stage". The people you lead are always looking to you for emotional and behavioural cues. So when something or someone becomes that pebble, you need to kick up your level of emotional intelligence. Step back and think before you react.

So if you are tired of spending all your time fighting fires and not focusing on the future, take the tips from leaders who have been able to free themselves of the vicious cycle: delegate, manage your time and your emotions.

My thanks to Beth Miller of Executive Velocity for inspiring this Blog. 

Why Should I Volunteer?

What is the driver that keeps volunteers serving something like the Association? 

While many of us groan over the arm twisting that put us into the jobs we do in serving the youth, or the community, the reality is we could quite easily quit at any time and just walk away and we don’t!  

Except that’s the rub isn’t it?  Because, however we ended up in the job, it somehow gets under your skin.  And every time you see a kid’s face light up as they figure out how to do something new, or see a young leader assert themselves, exceeding their own expectations and growing right there before your very eyes, that hook sinks just a little deeper.  This is not a job that rewards you with money, fame or (generally) recognition or expressions of gratitude.

The amazing thing about most of our volunteers is not what they do but how they make the time to do it between their other responsibilities.  Most of our volunteers have fulltime jobs and many have onerous family responsibilities, yet they still find and make the time and often more material resources available to serve.

So if you are asking yourself if you should step up here’s what you need to know. 

1. No one is going to be impressed by the number of badges you wear or the title you have, only by the contribution you choose to make to the youth in your care, even if the recipients don’t realise or appreciate it for a long time.
2. You are there for the youth – whether you are offering to serve on a committee as a lay member (treasurer/chairperson/quartermaster/etc) or in a uniformed role – your only consideration should be the kids we all serve, not your own sense of importance or entitlement. 
3. The rules and processes are currently slow and frustrating, and despite the current best efforts of all concerned, realistically will stay that way for some time.  You do the jobs despite the frustrations, and most of the rules are there for a good reason and if they aren’t, then you have mechanisms to work within the organisation to change them.
4. If you take on the challenge you have no excuse to deliver anything but the best to the youth.  When you drop the ball, or do a half heart job, then you are better off stepping back and letting someone else run with the standard.
5. You will never have all the training or skills or sets of rules to deal with every situation that presents itself – despite this you will cope.
6. There is a whole family of scouting supporters out there to help you when you are sure you can’t cope.  Some of them in other scout groups, some in your professional lives.
7. You will be amazed and pleasantly surprised how often people will put themselves out to help you if you only ask.
8. No one works for you in this association, they are volunteers like you and if you don’t help and support the people in your team, they will feel neglected and leave.
9. You volunteer twice in this association – once to offer you services and once to leave – both are conscious choices and should be made with due consideration.  

Servant Leadership – an Oxymoron?

Many of us expect our leaders to be striking examples – people who stand atop the ridge and inspire us to follow them into flame and storm.  While we all seek strength and direction from our leaders perhaps we should first understand the purpose that the leader seeks to achieve. 

Robert Greenleaf in the 1970’s introduced a model of leadership he called servant leadership.  This model of leadership resonates with the teaching of all major religions ranging from Taoism’s  “the way to Heaven is to benefit others and not to injure” to Christianity’s ”Just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” or the Islamic Hadithic text stating that “the best of men are those who are useful to others” and even the more recent business guru’s such as Jack Welch recognised that “before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”

So how does it work?  Well according to Greenleaf there are two types of leaders;  servant-first and leader-first leaders,  the latter focus on their own importance and well-being, in that for them serving others is just a means to acquire a position or perceived importance.  For the former, serving is the primary objective and leadership is just a tool we use to facilitate serving others.  

Sounds challenging?  It can be…

So which type of leader are you as a scouter, Commissioner or merely in your day to day life?  For people working in the ”I-centric” leader first concept, leadership is about how to accumulate and wield power, how to make people do things. It is all about clever strategies, applying pressure, and manipulating people to get what you want, no matter the cost or impact on them.

If this is you, you will probably focus more on the acquisition of power rather than the application thereof.    And when you finally achieve that vaunted position, then your very fear of losing it will in most cases make you ineffectual, causing you to dominate and for want of a better word terrorise any who might challenge you. This not only undermines your team it also steal your greatest tool away.  Besides, if you really think about it in a volunteer organisation what is the worst you can do to your underlings? Perhaps ask them to leave and lose their volunteered services?  This hardly ranks up there with loss of income by being fired or the more dramatic applications of power by some historical leaders.

On the other hand the servant leader understands that success is based on merit and your ability to deliver the goods, and any power derived from perceived authority is merely a tool to further that success.  A servant leaders share powers to make use of the greatest skillset from the team to achieve any given task, be it training the new tenderfoot or mentoring the greybeard scouter in a new skill.    This is not abdication but delegation the nurturing of others in the necessary skills to make them more valuable and in the process more committed to the organisation.

Given your choice to volunteer to serve the youth, which of these models would you like your “superiors” to use, and given that answer what will you use with those you lead?

September Provincial Warrant's Issues

Our congratulations to the following Scouters on their new warrants and appointments:

Philip Jamie Smith                     22nd Pretoria S.S.          

Mark Anthony Welvering           6th St Andrews                                 

Keith Wilson                              Jan Smuts                      

Craig Hudson                            1st Rivertrail                            

Angus Fleming                          Rosebank

John Francis                             West Rand

We also thank the following members for their ongoing service and renewal of warrant or acceptance of new roles:

Marina Seintis                           1st Hellenic 

Christos Angelou                       1st Hellenic 

Antonio Correia                         1st Sao Jorge       

Marion Halstead                        1st Rivertrail         

Victoria Riley                            Eastleigh

Peter Constable                         1st St Benedicts   

Brendon Whelan                       Jan Smuts  

Jenny Duncan                           North Rand

Shane Gardiner                         9th Benoni

Belinda Enslin                           37 Springfield

Andrew Riddin                           37 Springfield

Klaus Geerthsen                        37 Springvale       

Edward John Watson                37th Springvale

Michael Dunstan                       Randpark Ridge

Douglas Seymore                      Rosebank

Adam Griffiths                          Rosebank

And welcome to the following members new to the Province:

Mark Colin Arrow                       1st Bryanston                          

Warren Michael Botten              1st Edenvale                                     

Dane Adam Nothling                 1st Edenvale                                     

Dru Matthew Conold                 1st Edenvale                                     

Suzanne Lamprecht                  1st Benoni S.S.                        

Scouters: Managers or Leaders?

Peter F. Drucker claimed that, ”Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” 

As members of a volunteer organisation it is very easy to get lost in the Procedures, Rules and Regulations, and in so doing lose sight of the objective – as scouters this is easy for us as we have it defined for us as the contribution we make to the physical, intellectual and spiritual development of the youth in our care to become useful and contributing members of society. 

To that end when you plan and execute your next pack or troop meeting, do you try to develop a plan that has all of the elements you were train about on your warrant course, that has a formal opening and close, a game followed by a training exceciese, or do you look at the kids in your troop or pack and say what do they need and how can I best deliver them the experience that will give them the skills and growth opportunities to use those skills?

The former is management and the latter is leadership.  Your challenge as a scouter is to rise above the mediocre and deliver the products in the kids in your group.

August Provincial Warrant’s Issues

Our congratulations to the following Scouters on their new warrants and appointments:

Norman Doak                               3^rd Kensington

Sarah Tobin                                  ADC (Admin) North West

And welcome to the following members new to the Province:

Amanda Bishop-Williams              Springs Central

Kesea Baker                                Springs Central

Guy Blackburn                             Springs Central

Rodney Baker                              Springs Central

Daryl McMaster                            40th Pretoria

Suzanne Lemprecht                      1^st Benoni

We also thank the following members for their ongoing service and renewal of warrant or acceptance of new roles:

Ursula Louise Muller                      14^th Delp

Harro Hans Tonsing                      14th Delp

Richard David Osmond                  Robin Hills

Carmen Rosa                                1^st Fairlands

Harry Cubit                                   1^st Lambton