Scouts provides opportunities to practice leadership

My dad, who was Wood Badge Trained with the Boy Scouts and served as a volunteer while I was in a youth in scouting and later as a scoutmaster for years after I had gone on to university, gave me this book a few years back, Baden-Powell : The Two Lives of a Hero. I enjoyed this book. It explaining how Lord Baden-Powell began the scouting movement, his motivations, and his extraordinary efforts to get the program started. At the time I read this book, I was not explicitly trying to teach my children leadership. I was ‘winging it’ with varying degrees of success. Perhaps I should dig it out of the book boxes in the garage and re-scan it for ideas. And yet, I lived the scouting program for years. We camped at least once per month in Europe and the Eastern US. International Scouting events included Scouts from many places. Boy Scouts is a fantastic program that provides lots of practice opportunities for improving leadership skills. I highly recommend participation in this worldwide program. I gained my first feedback on delegation from my Dad while I was attempting my first role as a patrol leader. Scouting provided me with many opportunities to see other kids my age succeeding in leadership roles, and gave me first hand experience in trying out my own way of leading. It gives lots of chances for peer feedback as youth stumble through leadership skills, almost like honing fine motor controls with toddlers. I continued on through Eagle Scout in this program and it made a significant impact on me at an early age. I've worked as an adult volunteer in scouting too. This program can help your children too. Although Scouts doesn't start until 12 years old, Cub Scouts begins at 7 years old.

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