Keys to succession: How to find quality Cub Scout leaders

cubcast-logoYou could make the case that the most important person in the Boy Scouts of America is a new Tiger den leader.

Get the right one, and a boy has a phenomenal experience from his first year in Cub Scouting until his last year in Boy Scouting or Venturing.

Get the wrong one? Well, then you risk losing that boy pretty quickly and never getting him back.

Finding and cultivating a quality Cub Scout leader can make all the difference in the life of a Cub Scout. Do it right and when it’s time for you, the current Cub Scout leader, to move on, you’ll feel comfortable knowing the pack’s in good hands.

So how do you do it? Start by listening to the April 2015 CubCast.

This month’s guests are Lucia Cronin, chairwoman of the new National Cub Scout Experience Committee; and Greg Lawless, staff member for the National Camping School’s Cub Scout Administration program.

Greg acknowledges the generational diversity present within Scouting and says you can use it to your advantage. This was one of my favorite quotes from the CubCast:

There’s really four generations in the workplace today, and you’re seeing that same influence on Scouting, so you have all four generations involved in some aspect. This presents an opportunity for us in Cub Scouting.

The opportunity is the ability to transition and transfer knowledge from more senior, longer-tenured leaders as mentors and coaches, but then when you look at the younger-generation leaders, they’re very in-tune with the competition Scouting’s facing in the communities, and they understand how does programming need to be adjusted, how does delivery need to be adjusted.

They’re more technology and social media savvy and how those can play a role in generating interest and enthusiasm and excitement.

And there’s a lot of back-office roles for units, and so when you think about the opportunity to take potentially an older generation volunteer who wants to be involved but doesn’t necessarily want to be a direct contact Scouter, they can fill another role and free up a parent potentially for that direct contact role.

Want more tips? Listen to (or read a transcript of) the April 2015 CubCast.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.