Scouting, Volume 60, Number 1, January-February 1972 Page: 9
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solving. A patrol might be told to
"walk 3 feet above the water" or
"build a fire 8 feet above ground."
Whoever is patrol leader should be
able to determine that what is
needed is a bridge—in the case of
the first hurdle—and a tower. But
the patrol leader has a second per-
haps more important, task: he must
review the resources of the patrol
and decide which patrol member
should direct the building of the
bridge and/or tower.
By appointing a knowledgable
rank-and-file member to use a spe-
cific skill in directing a patrol activ-
ity, the PL momentarily has stepped
aside in favor of one of the group
who knows more about the task
than he does. The patrol leader has,
in other words, "shared leadership"
—another of the leadership com-
petencies.
So far we have mentioned three
of these competencies — sharing
leadership, getting and giving infor-
mation and knowing the resources
of the patrol. The other competen-
cies learned by Scouts taking the
new junior leader training at Phil-
mont were: representing the patrol,
planning, evaluating, controlling
group performance and how to be
a manager of learning.
Getting and giving information may be
a quiet exchange between two Scouts.
If these last two—controlling per-
formance and managing learning—
kind of stick in your craw, then wel-
come to the club. As an old Scout-
master, I had difficulty in swallow-
ing these last two until I discovered
that these competencies really don't
imply what they seem to. I cooled
down when John Larson, who wrote
the syllabus for the new junior
leader training, explained. Control-
ling group performance, he said, is
merely co-ordinating the work of a
patrol to get a job done. A manager
of learning—a patrol leader here—
is one who helps others learn.
"The role of the leader," added
Larson, "is to get the job done in
such a way that he maintains his
patrol, or group. By using resources
of the group the leader can get a
job done. By using the talent of the
patrol, he maintains the members'
interest and enthusiasm. And, by
planning properly, everyone under-
stands what's to be done, how it's
to be done, and (each patrol mem-
ber) can work constructively to get
it done."
Basically, that's what the new
junior leader training is all about:
to produce leaders who get a job
done while using the members' tal-
ents and, simultaneously, keeping
the members happy or contented.
And more than 600 Scouts from all
sections of the country were trained
—perhaps learned would be a bet-
ter word—in this method of leader-
ship at Philmont.
Now hold on! you may be telling
yourself at this very moment. Good
Scoutmasters have been doing this
all along. Haven't they?
Yes, "good Scoutmasters"—if the
definition means a Scoutmaster
who understands how to work with
boys—have consistently produced
the kind of boy leaders that the new
junior leader training will produce.
(Continued on page 60)
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 60, Number 1, January-February 1972, periodical, January 1972; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353658/m1/13/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.