Monday, January 28, 2013

"I cannot manage the past..."

At Wood Badge this year I'll be teaching the session on Values, Mission, and Vision. In that session, a quote from Margaret Thatcher is used:
"I cannot manage the past. There are other people in my government who manage the present. It is my unique responsibility as the leader to shine a spotlight on the future and marshal the support of countrymen to create that future."
I always liked it as a statement about the importance of vision in leadership, but I don't think I really applied all of it to my Scouting responsibilities. Let me paraphrase it for an adult leader in Scouting:
"I cannot manage the past. There are other people in my troop/team/crew (i.e. - the youth leaders) who should be managing the present. It is my unique responsibility as the adult leader to shine a spotlight on the future and marshal the support of troop/team/crew members and other adult leaders to create that future. 
In other words, the boys should be managing the present, planning and leading the meetings and activities. The adult leaders are there to teach and inspire--to show what is possible and then help the boys make it happen.

1 comment:

  1. The other day I was re-reading the Ensign article from last year called "Capturing the Vision of Scouting." I usually read the Ensign on kindle or tablet where there are no pictures, but you can download a pdf of this article which includes pictures from the Scouting section of lds.org. I think the pictures are my favorite part. They show young men in outdoor settings getting their picture taken, and on the camera for each is an image of the missionary they might become. To me, that says it all.

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